Tigers qualify in 4 events

It was a busy night for the Albert Lea girls’ swimming and diving team Wednesday during the 1A prelims at Rochester Recreation Center.

The Tigers send two teams and two individuals to Friday’s final.

Emily Taylor will represent the Tigers in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, and Jaeda Koziolek will also swim in two events — the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.

Taylor finished third in the 50 free, finishing with a time of 25.38.

Faribault’s Megan Gehrke won the event with a time of 24.81.

Taylor followed up her third-place finish with a sixth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.14.

Another Faribault swimmer,  Bre Bresnahan, won the event with a time of 1:06.95.

Koziolek, an eighth-grader, outperformed all but two swimmers in the 100 backstroke. She came in third place with a time of 1:02.07. Mankato West’s Rachel Phinney finished in first with a time of 1:01.39.

Koziolek didn’t have quite the finish she wanted in the 200 IM, but it was still good enough to qualify for the finals. She came in eighth place with a time of 2:23.88.

Northfield’s Sophia Nevin finished in first place with a time of 2:16.52.

Not only did Albert Lea send two individuals to Friday’s final, but it also sent its 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay teams to the finals.

Albert Lea’s team of Lydia Boorsma, Natalie Nafzger, Koziolek and Taylor finished in fifth place with a time of 1:59.70 in the 200 medley.

Mankato West won the event with a time of 1:50.86.

The Tigers improved their time in the 200 freestyle, but fell to eighth place. Lexie Simon, Jill Peterson, Alana Skarstad and Taylor finished in a time of 1:48.89.

Faribault won the event with a time of 1:41.18, and five teams finished within two seconds of each other.

In other events, Skarstad finished 23rd in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:15.70. Esperanza Johnson came in 35th place with a time of 2:34.16 and Odelia Jensen came in 37th, clocking in with a time of 2:40.31. Anna Kuiters rounded out the times with a time of 2:47.61 and in 39th place.

In the 50 freestyle, Simon finished in 26th place with a time of 27.84 and Emma Grossman was right behind her in 28th place with a time of 28.20.

In one-meter diving, Nafzger finished in 28th place with a total score of 81.65.

Faribault’s Sophia Steinberg won the event with a total score of 181.90 and the semifinals with a score of 265.90.

Emily Jensen finished just outside the qualifying time in the 100 butterfly. She clocked in with a time of 1:10.14. Northfield’s Maired Beithon earned the last qualifying spot with a time of 1:09.04.

Boorsma came in 29th place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:01.36 and Skarstad finished in 34th place with a time of 1:02.34. Peterson timed in at 1:03.80 and in 37th place in the event.

In the longest event of the night, Johnson placed 32nd in the 500 freestyle with a time of 6:45.96 and Odelia Jensen came in 34th place with a time of 7:07.76. Kuiters rounded out the competitors by coming in 35th place with a time of 7:30.11.

Nafzger finished in 18th place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:08.07 and Boorsma finished in 23rd place with a time of 1:09.33. Jensen finished in 30th place with a time of 1:12.76.

Simon just missed qualifying for the finals in the 100 breaststroke. She was .03 seconds behind Mankato West’s Abigail Fitzpatrick. Simon finished in 17th place with a time of 1:17.96. Peterson finished in 34th place with a time of 1:23.68 and Lauren Bizjak claimed 37th place and clocked in with a time of 1:26.89.

Albert Lea will swim in the finals Friday at the Rochester Recreation Center. Start time for the finals is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.