Despite 4 first-place event finishes, Albert Lea can’t outswim Winona

 

The Albert Lea girls’ swim team had its first home meet of the season Thursday, hosting Winona.

Despite strong performances from last year’s state qualifiers — sophomore Jaeda Koziolek and senior Emily Taylor — the Tigers came up short of the Winhawks, falling 95-77.

Albert Lea took first place in four events on the night. Taylor won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.15 and dominated the 100-yard breaststroke, beating her closest opponent by over seven seconds. Taylor’s final time was 1:13.27.

Koziolek brought in the other two wins for the Tigers, winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:03.79 and the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.71, more than six seconds faster than any opponent.

Second-place finishers for the Tigers were the 200-yard medley relay, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The team of Taylor, Koziolek, and freshmen Taya Jeffrey and Brooke Hanson finished the 200-yard medley with a time of 2:02.50, losing by less than one second to the first-place team. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, it was Taylor, junior Odelia Johnson, freshman Leah Rognes and eighth-grader Ava Troster taking home the second-place finish with a time of 1:57.39. In the final relay of the night, Hanson, Jeffrey, Rognes and Koziolek took second in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:16.69.

Rognes also got an individual third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, coming in with a time of 1:03.74. Hanson took third as an individual, as well, with a time of 28.66 in the 50-yard freestyle.

The Tigers fall to 0-5 on the season and will be back in the pool Thursday when they host the Raiders of Northfield.