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Visitation sets two records, moves closer to repeating as Class 1A champion

November 14, 2014 at 5:40AM
Chanhassen's Kaia Grobe swam in the 100 yard freestyle during the MSHSl AA girls swimming preliminaries at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center on Thursday, November 13, 2014 in Minneapolis, Minn. ] RENEE JONES SCHNEIDER • reneejones@startribune.com
Chanhassen’s Kaia Grobe swam in the 100-yard freestyle in the Class 2A preliminaries. She had the second-best qualifying time in that event, and the top time in the 50 freestyle. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Paced by record-setting junior Abbie Dolan, Vis­­­itation put itself in a strong position Thursday for a second consecutive Class 1A girls swimming and diving state championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

The Blazers advanced 12 swimmers and all three relay teams to Friday's finals.

Dolan, the defending champion in the 100-yard freestyle, set an all-time state meet record in the event. She also swam the anchor leg on Visitation's 200 freestyle relay, which set a Class 1A meet record.

Dolan's 100 freestyle time of 49.66 seconds broke her own Class 1A record set last year and the state all-time record of 49.78, set in 2008 by Stillwater's Hannah Bowen. In the 200 freestyle relay, Dolan, Emily Conners, Lorelei Gaertner and Katrina Schneeman finished in 1:36.00.

Dolan also advanced to the 200 IM finals — with the second-fastest time — and swam a leg on the Blazers' 400 freestyle relay, which had the top time in the preliminaries.

"We had a lot of good swims today," Visitation coach Nate Linscheid said. "All of the kids work hard and feed off our top girls."

Horejsi sets another record

Albert Lea junior Lindsey Horejsi set one record and just missed a second in the Class 1A preliminaries.

Horejsi, the defending champion in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke, broke her own record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.61.

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In the 200 IM, Horejsi swam a 2:02.56, just one-hundreth of a second off the Class 1A state meet record she set in last year's preliminaries.

Class 2A: Wayzata strong

Defending Class 2A champion Wayzata, paced by junior Madison Preiss, advanced 11 individuals and all three relays to Friday's finals.

Preiss had the top time in the 200 IM (2:02.78) and 100 backstroke (1:01.98) preliminaries. She is the defending champion in the 200 IM.

Wayzata senior Mary Whiting had the top time in the 200 freestyle (1:49.68) and all three Trojans relay teams swam the top time in the preliminaries.

Edina, which was runner-up to the Trojans last year, advanced nine individuals and all three relays to the finals.

Wayzata also has three individuals in the diving finals, while Edina has none.

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Avestruz advances

Chanhassen senior Zoe Avestruz had the top qualifying time in the 100 butterfly (53.99) and 100 backstroke (52.74). Avestruz is the defending state champion in each event.

Lakeville North seventh-grader Regan Smith had the second-best time in each event.

In the 100 butterfly, Smith's time of 55.22 topped her Section 1AA winning time of 55.42, which set a U.S. national age-group record for 11-12 year-olds.

Close at top in diving

Buffalo junior Rachel Bertram had the top score (304.75) in Wednesday's Class 2A diving preliminaries.

Stillwater senior Liz Click was second (303.15) and Rochester Century junior Andrianna Jacobs third (299.80). Jacobs was second and Click third last year.

In the Class 1A preliminaries, Blake junior Megan White had the top score (288.20). Three-time defending Class 1A champion Bailey DuPay of Northfield was second (282.85) and Alexis Kiefer of Northfield third (280.50).

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Visitation girls' swimmer Abbie Dolan at St. Kate's University Butler Center Pool in St. Paul, MN. September 10, 2013. ] JOELKOYAMA•joel koyama@startribune ORG XMIT: MIN1309111700021844
Dolan (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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Joel Rippel

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Joel Rippel writes about sports for the Star Tribune.

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