Four Tiger swimmers = seven state qualifiers

 

Kaitlyn O'Reilly (top) and Kirsten Kracke to state in four events (photos by J. Lindquist)

If the Tigers girls were a baseball hitter, Saturday's performance at the Section 1AA Championships in Rochester would have put them on the Hall of Fame ballot.

Farmington batted a robust .583 in the section finals, qualifying in seven of 12 events for next weekend's state meet while finishing third in the final section standings.

Rochester Mayo dominated the team competition with 443 points. Hastings took second with 356.5, followed by Farmington 334, Winona 270, Rochester John Marshall 265, Rochester Century 216.5 and Owatonna 151.

"We had an amazing prelims and held on to finish strong in the finals," coach Jen Marshall said. "Five individual entries in the state meet is the most we've ever had and we're confident our relays will get faster. It should make for an exciting state meet,"

Four Tigers--Kaitlyn O'Reilly, Kirsten Kracke, Chelsea Gehrke and Cora Ruzicka--accounted for all seven state meet berths with O'Reilly and Kracke each making the cut in four.

O'Reilly, an all-state performer last fall, also made the state field in two individual events. The speedy senior set a meet record of 2:05.03 in winning the 200 individual medley and also took third in the 200 backstroke.

Chelsea Gehrke qualified in three events (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Kracke also will swim four events at state, adding a runner-up finish in the 50 freestyle and a fourth place effort in the 100 freestyle to her list of accomplishments at the section finals.

Gehrke made state in an individual event with a third place showing in the 100 butterfly.

Two of the state qualifications came from the formidable foursome of O'Reilly, Kracke, Gehrke and Cora Ruzicka who joined forces to finish second in both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. The 200 freestyle quartet set a new school mark with a 1:38.48 clocking.

 O'Reilly (200 individual medley), Gehrke (100 butterfly), Kracke (100 freestyle) and Ruzicka (500 freestyle) all set new school standards in individual events at the meet.

In addition to the in-pool success at the section championships the Tigers also learned they had achieved the Academic Gold Standard set by the State Coaches Association by compiling a team grade point average of at least 3.75 (on a 4.0 scale).

The Class AA state meet will take place Nov 18-20 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Cora Ruzicka swam on two state-qualifying relays (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Other Farmington point-scorers at the section meet:
200 freestyle: 4. Ruzicka; 1. Ellie Sundet; 13. Catherine Gehrke
200 medley: 14. Chloe Holton; 15. Paige LeTourneau
50 freestyle: 16. Grace Roach
One-meter diving: 5. Kendall Novak; 6. Tori Sontag; 10. Nikki Cayard
100 butterfly: 13. Holton; 14. Roach
100 freestyle: 11. Sundet
500 freestyle: 5. Ruzicka; 6. Sara Kintner; 12. Ca. Gehrke
100 backstroke: 9. Lexie Bray; 13. Emily Ley; 15. Sydney Geiger
100 breaststroke: 6. Kintner; 14. Katie Anderson