Numerous first-place finishes give Tigers 87-66 win over Titans at home

Published 9:24 pm Tuesday, September 14, 2021

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After some narrow losses last week, the Albert Lea girls’ swim and dive team hosted Tri-City United Tuesday night in search of its first win of the season.

The Tigers came away with eight first-place finishes in 12 varsity events to put away the Titans and win the meet, 87-66.

Albert Lea started the night off in the right way with the 400-yard medley relay team of freshman Hailey Deming, sophomores Emery Brouwers and Hatty Adams, and senior Brooke Hanson won the event with a time of 2:11.02, more than 24 seconds faster than the second-place team.

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Senior Taya Jeffrey kept the winning ways going by finishing first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:18.27. Freshman Julia Doppelhammer came in second with a time of 2:28.33, and senior Leah Rognes came in third with a time of 2:29.38.

In the following event — the 200-yard individual medley — Adams came in second with a time of 2:56.97.

Albert Lea senior Jenna Steffl points her toes into the water just before making entry on one of her dives in the one-meter diving comppetition. Steffl won with event with a final score of 188.40. Tyler Julson/Albert Lea Tribune

The Tigers took second, third and fourth places in the 50-yard freestyle, the quickest race of the night. Brouwers came in second with a time of 26.91, followed by Hanson with a time of 29.59, and senior Taylor Palmer with a time of 29.62.

Senior Jenna Steffl dominated the one-meter diving competition with a final score of 188.40. Freshman Shaelee Lambertson also competed in the event, finishing in fifth place with a score of 109.90.

After a short break for Chuck-A-Duck and a quick warmup, the Tigers were back in the pool with Jeffrey recording her second victory of the night, winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:14.38. Adams came in second with a time of 1:20.87.

Brouwers then won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.99, the only swimmer to break one-minute in the event. Rognes came in fifth with a time of 1:08.64, and sophomore Erin Boorsma came in sixth with a time of 1:09.85.

Doppelhammer followed that up with a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:37.83. Palmer came in second with a time of 6:45.93, and sophomore Alex Funk came in fourth with a time of 7:41.41.

In the penultimate relay event, the team of Jeffrey, Rognes, Hanson and Brouwers won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:55.80.

Three Tigers swam in the 100-yard backstroke. Deming was the top Tiger, coming in second with a time of 1:12.10. Boorsma came in 1:23.92, and eighth-grader Claire Stockwell came in fifth with a time of 1:33.41.

Hanson won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:28.54, and was followed by eighth-grader McKenzie Fields with a time of 1:46.71.

In the final event of the night, the 400-yard relay team of Deming, Palmer, Rognes and Jeffrey came in second place with a time of 4:21.23, less than a second off the winning time of 4:20.32.

The Tigers now improve to 1-2 on the season and will be back in the pool Thursday when they travel to take on the Wingers of Red Wing. Their next home meet is scheduled for Sept. 23 against Faribault.

About Tyler Julson

Tyler Julson covers sports for the Albert Lea Tribune.

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