Girls Swimming and Diving: On to State

 

Kaitlyn O'Reilly (top) and Kirsten Kracke (photos by Jim Lindquist)

For just the second time in school history the Tigers are Section 1AA True Team champions and headed to the state meet.

"We won the section in 2010," coach Jen Marshall said, "and then one other time we got to go to state as an alternate because the champion couldn't go.

"This year's meet was exciting from beginning to end.  Every Lady Tiger stepped up and performed today.  It was a true team effort."

In the unique meet held at Dodge Middle School every competitor, regardless of finish, earned points for her team. That played right into Farmington's strength, namely depth.

The Tigers amassed 976 points to win the team title by a wide margin. Winona/Winona Cotter was a distant second with 803, followed by Rochester John Marshall 750, Rochester Century 745, Hastings 707 and Owatonna 510.

The winners made an early statement by winning the meet's first four events and later went on to win two more.

The 200 medley relay team of Kirsten Kracke, Kaitlyn O'Reilly, Chelsea Gehrke and Cora Ruzicka opened with a win then Ruzicka made it two in a row with a victory in the 200 freestyle.

O'Reilly then captured the 200 individual medley and Kracke followed by leading the field in the 50 freestyle.

Later in the day the Kracke-O'Reilly-Gehrke-Ruzicka connection took top honors in the 200 freestyle relay and O'Reilly posted another individual win, this one in the 100 breaststroke.

Kracke also had a second place finish in the 100 freestyle. Gehrke took third in the 100 butterfly and 200 medley as did Ruzicka in the 500 freestyle.

Two Tigers finished fourth, Kendall Novak on the one-meter board and Sara Kintner in the 500 freestyle. 

Three more Farmington entrants came in fifth: Ellie Sundet in the 200 freestyle; Nikki Cayard in diving and Catherine Gehrke in the 500 freestyle.

Other Farmington Top 10 finishers:
200 individual medley: 6. Lexie Bray, Kaylee Dahlberg. Chloe Holton, Hannah Seitzinger; 7. Sydney Geiger, Kintner, Paige LeTourneau, Katie Anderson
200 freestyle: 6. Ca. Gehrke
50 freestyle: 9. Ley; 10. Seitzinger
One-meter diving: 8. Tori Sontag
100 butterfly: 10. Grace Roach
500 freestyle: 8. Bray
200 freestyle relay: 8. Sundet, Raoch, Ca. Gehrke, Holton
100 backstroke: 6. Ley; 10. Geiger
100 breaststroke: 8. Kintner; 9. Dahlberg; 10. Anderson
400 freestyle relay: 6. Sundet, Ca. Gehrke, Ley, Ruzicka; 7. LeTourneau, Anderson, Kintner, Seitzinger

Chelsea Gehrke (top) and Cora Ruzicka (photos by Jim Lindquist)

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