Horejsi is individual points leader at Big Nine Conference meet

Domination in a pair of individual events and relays propelled the Albert Lea girls’ swimming team to second place at the Big Nine Conference meet Saturday at the Rochester Recreation Center.

“We were probably expected to get fourth, but the girls swam out of their minds,” said Albert Lea head coach Jon Schmitz. “This was a huge meet for us.”

Lindsey Horejsi continued a strong season by scoring more points than anyone at the meet. Horejsi took first place in every event she swam, including relays: She was the conference champ in the 200-yard individual medley by more than seven seconds and the 100-yard breaststroke champ by more than six seconds.

The rest of the Tigers also excelled in those two events. In the 200-yard I.M., after Horejsi, Bailey Sandon took fourth and Ahnika Jensen took sixth. Albert Lea earned even more podium finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke, including three of the top four places. After Horejsi, Jensen followed in second, Samantha Nielsen took fourth and Hannah Hertling finished eighth — less than two seconds after Nielsen.

“The breaststroke has been a good event for us,” Schmitz said. “That also helps out with our I.M. (individual medley), because that has all the strokes.”

In the first event of the day, Albert Lea’s group of Sandon, Horejsi, Jensen and Anna Andersen set the 200-yard medley relay conference record. The team of Andersen, Jensen, Haley Simon and Horejsi followed suit by setting another conference record — as well as the Albert Lea High School record — in the 200-yard freestyle relay by one-tenth of a second in front of Mankato West.

“That was the upset of the meet,” Schmitz said. “It was something Lindsey had been waiting for.”

Horejsi swam the fastest split in the 200-yard freestyle relay, edging Mankato West’s Danielle Nack — the eighth-fastest high school swimmer in the country in the 50-yard freestyle — by fewer than three tenths of a second.

“Lindsey said that when they pushed off the wall, they were both facing each other,” Schmitz said. “Her split was 22.88 seconds, which is phenomenal.”

In addition to helping Albert Lea set the 200-yard medley relay record, Andersen also took second place in the 100-yard freestyle and fourth place in the 50-yard freestyle.

Next, the Tigers will swim at the Section 1A meet, again at the Rochester Recreation center. The starting buzzer will sound at 5 p.m. Nov. 6 for the preliminary round, and the finals will be on at 6 p.m. Nov. 8.

The state meet will be at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center Nov. 19 to 20.