Gallery: Tigers top Rockets on Parents’ Night, set 2 pool records

Published 9:03 pm Thursday, September 25, 2014

Lindsey Horejsi of Albert Lea swims the backstroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley Thursday on Parents' Night at Albert Lea High School. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

Lindsey Horejsi of Albert Lea swims the backstroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley Thursday on Parents’ Night at Albert Lea High School. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

An already special night was made even better for the Albert Lea girls’ swimming team by setting two pool records.

New marks were set in 200-yard freestyle relay and the 100 breaststroke during the Tigers’ 99-82 win over Rochester John Marshall Thursday on Parents’ Night at Albert Lea High School.

“It’s cool to see all the parents come out and just how supportive they are,” said Albert Lea’s Lindsey Horejsi, who was part of both record-setting events. “It’s awesome.”

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Of the 12 varsity races, Albert Lea won 10: three relays and seven individual events.

The previous record in the 200 freestyle relay was 1:40.38 set in 2009. Albert Lea’s team of Anna Andersen, Ahnika Jensen, Haley Simon and Horejsi finished in 1:39.66.

“The relay was amazing,” said Albert Lea coach Jon Schmitz. “We went 1:37.56 at state last year, so we’re pumped about that.”

In the 100 breaststroke, Horejsi finished in 1:02.20 to improve her previous record of 1:03.90.

“Her style looked great,” Schmitz said. “She was just skating across the water, and it’s going to set her up great for this weekend.”

Along with the 100 breaststroke, Horejsi also won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:09.49.

Anna Andersen also took first place in two events. She beat the rest of the field by more than 10 seconds in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:59.57, and she won the 100 freestyle in 53.54 seconds. Albert Lea swept first through third place in both events.

In the 50 freestyle, Ahnika Jensen beat Maya Clarke of John Marshall by 0.74 seconds to take first place.

Albert Lea’s Sara Rasmussen won the longest individual race of the evening — the 500 freestyle — by 1.08 seconds with a time of 5:53.85.

“She was feeling a bit under the weather and still got her best time,” Schmitz said. “That was a good 500 win for her.”

Bailey Sandon and Bryn Williams led the field in the 100 backstroke. Sandon won with a time of 1:05.69, and Williams was 1.28 seconds behind.

Schmitz expects the Tigers to swim even faster times at a meet that starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at Linn-Mar Aquatic Center in Marion, Iowa, a northern suburb of Cedar Rapids.

According to Schmitz, the pool at Linn-Mar is deeper than an average pool, which results in a smoother swimming surface. It also features Olympic starting blocks with lanes that are nine feet wide, and the race will have a track start.

“This weekend is going to be really fun, just seeing (which teams) come down for it,” Horejsi said. “There will be a lot of teams that we normally don’t swim against.”

Statistics are in the Scoreboard: Sept. 25 post.