Several Tigers set multiple season-best times in section meet

Published 3:13 pm Tuesday, October 27, 2020

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In its final meet of the season, the Albert Lea girls’ swim and dive team competed in the Section 1A meet held virtually at a number of different schools Thursday and Friday.

Numerous Tigers recorded their best times of the season in multiple events and in a normal year, would have sent two athletes to the state meet.

Senior Jaeda Koziolek was one of the Tigers who would have qualified for state. Koziolek came in second place of the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.41. It was the top finish by a Tiger at the meet. Koziolek also competed in three other events at the meet and set season-bests in each. As an individual, she came in  third place of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:00.75, which missed the state-qualifying time by .2 seconds.

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Koziolek also swam in the 200-yard medley relay alongside juniors Brooke Hanson and Taya Jeffrey and freshman Emery Brouwers. The team came in sixth place with a time of 1:58.31.

Koziolek, Brouwers, Jeffrey and sophomore Ava Troster also  swam in the 400-yard freestyle relay, coming in seventh with a time of 3:57.82.

The other Tiger who would have made an appearance at the state meet was junior Jenna Steffl, who came in fourth place of the one-meter diving competition with a final score of 307.80.

Along with her season-bests in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay, Jeffrey also set new bests in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. She came in 16th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.71 and 14th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.97.

Hanson also swam in the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard freestyle relay, setting new season-best times in each. She came in 20th in the 50-yard freestyle, 15th in the breaststroke and ninth in the 200-yard freestyle relay along with teammates junior Taylor Palmer, freshman Hatty Adams and eighth grader Hailey Deming.

Junior Julia Doppelhammer notched season-best times in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.

Of the 12 events, the Tigers set 25 season-best times throughout the roster.

Koziolek is the lone senior lost from this season. Hanson, Jeffrey, Palmer, Doppelhammer and Leah Rognes lead a junior class that will hope to make a splash in the conference next season.

About Tyler Julson

Tyler Julson covers sports for the Albert Lea Tribune.

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