Girls' swimming: Burnsville aiming for top finish

The Burnsville girls' swimming team opened some eyes last year at the state meet by putting things together at the right time and finishing second. The Blaze would like to think it is poised to do the same thing this season despite the loss of some key swimmers through graduation and the introduction of a new coach.

"A lot of people are saying we are No. 7 in the state but I feel we can do a lot better than that," junior Catie Chang said. "I think we can go for top three."

Burnsville, which does not have a diving team, qualified for this week's state meet in nine of 11 events at last week's Class 2A, Section 2 meet in Prior Lake. Chang finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and in the 500-yard freestyle to lead the way for the Blaze.

Senior Jenny Comstock qualified in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. Senior Lisa Newberger qualified in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior Chelcee Hew qualified in the 200 yard individual medley.

Freshman Teresa DiGregorio and eighth-grader Anna Elling qualified in the 100 butterfly. The Blaze also qualified in all three relays.

First-year coach Kim Harrod said the team performed even better than she expected.

"I was hoping Teresa would make it in her fly but that wasn't one I was counting on," Harrod said. "So that was a nice thing to see. She is a ninth grader and she told me her older sisters made state as ninth graders. So she was going to it, too. That was exciting."

Comstock, who will swim at North Dakota next season, said she enters the state meet confident in herself and in her team.

"A lot of people were doubting us because we lost a lot of people and we lost our coach," Comstock said. "But I think we will prove some people wrong.

"The first meet we had some surprisingly strong swims from some of our underclassmen. We didn't know they could go so fast. So we got a boost from that."

The Blaze was undefeated in the regular season until losing to Eden Prairie in the last meet prior to sections. The Eagles will be among the top teams competing for a state title.

"This group clicked right off the bat," said Newberger, who is considering a scholarship offer from North Dakota. "It ended up working out well for us. We're happy."

Harrod said a top-five finish for the Blaze would be a realistic goal, but added:

"Third is doable. Getting the three relays to qualify is key because those are the big point scorers."

Harrod swam for Burnsville, and after graduating in 1997 went on to swim at the U. She was an assistant on coach Jeff Marshall's staff last season and moved into the top spot when Marshall decided to retire.

Harrod said she benefitted from having coached many of the girls in club swimming when they were younger.

"We knew it was going to be a change, but that it was going to be a good change," Chang said. "I was excited."

Harrod said her first season as a head coach has been a learning experience, but also a great one. She added she is putting some of lessons learned under Marshall to good use.

"He had quite the tradition of success going," Harrod said, "but he assured me that you always have your up years and your down years. We're riding a pretty good wave right now and we're pretty excited about the way things are going."