Horejsi champ in 100-yard breaststroke

Lindsey Horejsi won a conference title, and the Albert Lea girls’ swimming and diving team placed 5th Saturday at the Big Nine Conference championships held at the University of Minnesota State, Mankato.

In the meet’s final race, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Tigers edged Owatonna by .36 seconds and jumped ahead of the Huskies in the final standings, a team they lost to during the regular season. The Tigers finished just 4 1/2 points behind fourth-place Mankato West.

“It came down to the final relay and they did an awesome job,” Tigers coach Jon Schmitz said. “Bailey Sandon was the hero there. She had the best swim of her life in that event.”

Sandon was the anchor of the fifth-place clinching relay team, which also included Anna Andersen, Kemma Bergland and Haley Simon.

“The kids showed a lot of toughness at the end of the meet,” Schmitz said. “In a four-hour meet it’s hard to keep the intensity going and we did it.”

Horejsi, an eighth-grader, won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.12. The conference-winning time also set a pool record at the Division II university.

Morgan Field placed fifth in the same event in 1:11.46.

Schmitz said he was pleased with the performance of his 100-yard freestylers, Galen Schulz and Andersen, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively to combine for 27 points.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Schulz, Field, Andersen and Horejsi finished third in 1:41.93 to give the Tigers 32 points.

“They were just phenomenal,” Schmitz said. “It was a huge, huge swim and we’re excited about that.”

Horejsi placed fourth in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:15.01, and Karli Kriewall was second in the 1-meter dive with 325.55 points. Winona’s Crystal Franzwa was the Big Nine champion in diving with 348.75 points.

Schmitz said the Tigers didn’t have big drops in times because they’re training for the Section 1A championships which will be held Nov. 9 and 11 in Austin.

“The kids had to be mentally tough and swim through some pain this week,” he said.