Visitation put itself in good position to claim its ninth consecutive Class 1A girls swimming and diving state title with a strong performance in the preliminaries Thursday at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
Paced by seniors Ella Passe and Elizabeth Burke, the Blazers advanced 17 individuals and all three relay teams to Friday's finals. The Blazers qualified at least one individual in each event, except diving.
Passe and Burke had the top two qualifying times in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and each swam a leg on the Blazers' 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays, which had the top qualifying times. Passe is the defending state champion in the 500 freestyle.
New Prague junior Nellie Dalsin had the top score (268.75) in the Class 1A diving preliminaries Wednesday.
In the Class 2A preliminaries, Wayzata senior Claire Reinke had the top qualifying time (54.56 seconds) in the 100 butterfly. Defending state champion Minnetonka advanced all three relays and eight individuals to Friday's finals.
In the Class 2A diving preliminaries on Wednesday, Woodbury junior Gabby Mauder had the top score (301.00).
