Swimmers give Owatonna a run
Published 12:00 am Friday, August 31, 2001
Not many people expected the Albert Lea High School girls’ swimming and diving team to challenge a veteran Owatonna team in the season opener.
Friday, August 31, 2001
Not many people expected the Albert Lea High School girls’ swimming and diving team to challenge a veteran Owatonna team in the season opener.
The Tigers did more than that. They almost won it.
The ALHS girls nearly pulled off an upset in their first competition in the new building, falling 95-86 to the Huskies in a Big Nine dual meet Thursday night.
&uot;It was a good meet for us,&uot; said Tigers coach Jon Schmitz. &uot;We’re a young team. Owatonna is older and more experienced than we are. We laid out a good strategy and hung with them as long as we could. They’re just a little stronger.&uot;
The Tigers stayed close with their depth, picking up only three first places.
One was in the opening event, the 200-yard medley relay, where Laura Grund, Krista Horejsi, Laura Hillman and Amy Leach combined to win in 2:08.29.
Grund won the 100 freestyle in 59.62 seconds. Leah Matheson, an eighth-grader, won the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.99.
Chelsea Cole had a pair of second places, in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Brooke Kaasa was second in the 200 free and 500 free. Also taking second were Grund, 200 IM, 2:31.01 and Horejsi, 100 breast.
Other Albert Lea places: Laura Linnes, fifth, 200 free and fourth, 500 free; Matheson, fourth, 200 IM; Megan Austin, fifth, 200 IM; Leach, fourth, 50 free; Lonna Vanderploeg, fifth, 50 free; Kassi Gaul, third, diving; Hillman, fifth, diving and third, 100 back; Horejsi, fourth, 100 butterfly; Kaeli Wayne, fourth, 100 free and fourth, 100 back; Alyssa Nelson, third, 100 back.
The Tigers’ junior varsity won 89-86.