For the second time in three weeks the Tigers used their superior depth to finish near the top of a large metropolitan area meet.
After winning the Bloomington Invitational on Sept. 18, the girls placed second among 15 teams at the talent-filled Marauder Invitational held Saturday, Oct. 2, at the University of St. Catherine is St. Paul.
Powerhouse Mounds View won the team title with 1,608 points with the Tigers runners-up with 1,172.5. Edina's junior varsity placed third at 1,040, followed by St Louis Park 831, Benilde-St. Margaret's 740.5, Hopkins 684, Henry Sibley 570.5, Moorhead 536, Saint Cloud Apollo 478, Minneapolis 403, Anoka 390, Watertown-Mayer/Delano 372, Cold Spring Rocori 304, Richfield 238 and Maple Grove (B) 208.
Farmington's strong showing could be traced to its balance and depth. The Tigers won three of the meet's 12 events and finished among the top 10 in 11. In the 100 backstroke, they garnered four of the top 10 spots.
The 200 individual medley relay team of Kaitlyn O'Reilly, Elizabeth Wolfe, Caitlin Kracke and Ellie Sundet started the meet with a flourish by edging Mounds View by .78of a second for the title.
O'Reilly later went on to win the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke and joined forces with Caitlin Kracke, Kirsten Kracke and Sundet to finish second in the 400 freestyle relay.
In addition to their work on the relay teams, the Kracke sisters also fared well in individual events. Caitlin finished fourth in the 50 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle while Kirsten ranked second in the backstroke and fifth in the 200 medley.
Wolfe finished runner-up in the 100 breaststroke; Sara Kintner fourth in the 500 freestyle and Robin Ellis sixth in the 100 backstroke. Cory Ruzicka took ninth in the 100 butterfly and Delaney Wright placed 10th in the 100 backstroke.
The 200 freestyle relay quartet of Biff Donner, Kirsten Kracke, Abby Haugen and Sarah O'Reilly took fourth place.
