State qualifier in 4 events; section record in 100 backstroke
(photo by Jim Lindquist)
To say that Tiger coach Jen Marshall was pleased with her team's performance at last weekend's Section 1AA Championships in Rochester would be like saying the Grand Canyon is a pretty good-sized hole.
Farmington qualified entrants in six of 12 events for this week's state meet at the section, breaking one meet record and setting six new new school marks in the process.
Defending champion Rochester John Marshall nipped crosstown rival Rochester Mayo 381-374 to win the team title. Farmington ranked third at 316, followed by Hastings 309, Winona 258, Rochester Century 206 and Owatonna 203.
"Keeping with Lady Tiger tradition, we had an awesome preliminaries and even better finals," Marshall said. "The girls were dropping chunks of time in every event. As a team we dropped 88.83 seconds in the prelims. Simply put, it was amazing."
Kaitlyn O'Reilly and Zoe Avestruz had huge days for the Tigers with each moving on to state in four events.
O'Reilly won the 100 backstroke in a meet record 57.18 seconds and placed second in the 200 individual medley, just 0.6 seconds behind winner Taylor Bass of John Marshall.
Zoe Avestruz
State qualifier in 4 events
Avestruz also made state in two individual events, ranking fourth in both the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
In addition, O'Reilly and Avestruz each swam a leg on the third place 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams that made the state cut. Abby Haugen and Robin Ellis also swam on the 200 medley relay team while Cora Ruzicka and Kirsten Kracke joined O'Reilly and Avestruz to fill out the 400 freestyle lineup.
But the six state qualifiers didn't tell the whole Farmington story. During the two-day competition, the Tigers established six new school records and personal best times fell like rain drops in April.
The new school standards included O'Reilly's two state-qualifying efforts; the two state entrant relays; Avestruz's clocking in the 50 freestyle and Ruzicka's eighth-place efort in the 500 freestyle.
Marshall especially noted the performances of Victoria Resch in the 100 breaststroke; Chloe Holton in the 200 medley and 100 butterfly; Sarah O'Reilly in the 200 and 500 freestyle and Ellis in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
"Victoria had an unbelievable 100 breaststroke in the prelims," Marshall said. "She dropped almost six seconds and went from 23rd to 13th place to qualify for the finals."
The Class AA state meet preliminaries are set for Friday, Nov. 18 with the finals to follow on Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
"We'd like to get as many all-state (top 8) performances as we can," Marshall said. "We've never had an all-state relay so that would be pretty exciting."
Other Tiger Top 10 finishes at the Section 1AA meet:
200 freestyle: 8. Kracke
One-meter diving: 6.Nikki Cayard; 10. Tori Sontag
100 butterfly: 9.Ruzicka
100 freestyle: 5. Kracke 8. Ellie Sundet
200 freestyle relay: 5. Ellis, Haugen, Sundet, Kracke
100 backstroke: 7. Ellis
100 breaststroke: 8. Haugen
