Visitation begins pursuit of 10th girls swimming state title in a row

When the high school girls swimming season started in August, Visitation junior and co-captain Katie Miller wasn't sure how the team would make the state meet. Last year's squad, Visitation's ninth state champion team in a row, graduated 17 seniors.

"But last week's sections, it felt like a whole different team," Miller said. "All those people whose first sections meet it was have grown exponentially, and I'm really proud of them."

Visitation will go for its 10th title in a row Saturday after showing depth at Friday's Class 1A state preliminaries at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus. Virginia holds the state record with 12 titles in a row from 1930-41.

Visitation, with nine swimmers competing and three making their state debuts, qualified for all three relays with the fourth-fastest times. Visitation also has individual swimmers in six of eight championship heats.

The 500-yard freestyle was once again a strong event for Visitation — it took first, second, third and fourth place in the event last year — as Miller had the top qualifying time (5 minutes, 3.38 seconds) followed by senior Tessa Lindstrom at 5:04.72.

Miller, who's verbally committed to swim at Colgate, also had the second-best time in the 200 freestyle (1:53.05) and anchored the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

Junior Maggie Farley, also one of six captains, had the fastest time in the 100 butterfly (55.94) and advanced to the finals in the 50 freestyle, in which she took third last fall, with a time of 24.02 on Friday. She also anchors the 200 medley relay and swims the first leg of the 200 freestyle relay. It's a contrast to last year's meet, when she swam the endurance event, the 500 freestyle. She called it a "mentality shift."

"It's been fun getting to try some different stuff with this team," Farley said.

Many Visitation swimmers are in different events this year or swimming on relays for the first time.

"So it's all a learning process," said coach Nate Linscheid. "Hopefully today provided some data points to help us adjust what we need to for tomorrow."

Miller was also proud of the newcomers to the state meet, including her freshman sister, Merry, who advanced to the finals of the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke and the 200 medley relay. Freshman Anna Cierzan swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay.

"I told them both, 'No pressure. It's come in, do the best you can and learn from the older girls who are competing really hard,' " Linscheid said.

The Class 1A finals start at noon Saturday. The Blazers are looking for their 14th state championship in the past 18 state meets.

It's a unique experience to compete for a state championship as a program each year, and one that comes with responsibility and a little bit of pressure, Miller said.

"But after losing the 17 seniors, I feel like the captains and the team as a whole have done a really good job shaping a new team whose goal isn't to carry on the new legacy but create a new era," Miller said. "It's been a great year."

Monticello swam to top qualifying times in two of the three relays with a 1:46.84 in the 200 medley and 1:36.39 in the 200 freestyle. Monticello also advanced in the 400 freestyle relay.

Monticello freshman Adalynn Biegler enters the finals with the top qualifying time in the 50 freestyle (23.03) and 100 freestyle (51.10). Biegler also swam the first leg of the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.

Edina, the defending champion, and Minnetonka, last year's runner-up, dominated the Class 2A preliminaries on Friday.

The Hornets, who have won eight of the past 12 Class 2A state titles, advanced 12 individuals and all three relay teams to Saturday's championship finals. The Hornets, who also have two divers in Saturday's finals, advanced three swimmers to the 200 individual medley championship finals.

Minnetonka, which finished just six points behind the Hornets last year, advanced nine individuals, and each of its three relay teams had the top qualifying time for Saturday's finals.

The Skippers won the 200 medley and 400 free relays last year. Edina won the 200 free relay.

In the 100 freestyle preliminaries, Minnetonka senior Paige Dillon, the defending champion, had the fourth-best qualifying time (51.43) behind Shakopee junior Arianna Zelena (50.23). Dillon also had the fourth-best qualifying time in the 200 freestyle (1:51.62) and swam a leg on the Skippers' 200 free and 400 free relays.

Minnetonka junior Annabelle Wentzel, who was the top seed in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly, had the top qualifying time in both preliminaries. In the 100 backstroke, Wentzel finished in 50.19 and edged St. Michael-Albertville junior Lily Van Heel, the defending champion, by a hundredth of a second.

Wentzel swam the 100 butterfly in 54.65. Wentzel also swam a leg on the Skippers' 200 medley and 400 free relays.

Van Heel had the top qualifying time in the 200 IM. She was third in the event last year.

Prior Lake junior Ivy Solt had the top qualifying time in the 500 freestyle (4:55.07) and the second-best time (1:50.45) in the 200. Edina freshman Macy Malinski had the top time in the 200 (1:50.35).

JOEL RIPPEL