Tigers miss preliminary round, 2 swimmers qualify for state meet in timed final

The Albert Lea boys’ swimming team weathered the storm. Literally. As a result, two Tigers are headed to state.

Before Albert Lea’s swimmers were able to take on their opponents at the Section 1A meet Friday at Simley High School, the team bus had to beat a different kind of opponent: snow and ice that caused 1,000 crashes and 2,300 spinouts, according to the Associated Press.

The snow and ice won.

Preliminary races were scheduled for Friday, but Albert Lea’s team bus was unable to move past Exit 56 on Interstate 35 to go north of Northfield, said Tigers head coach Jon Schmitz.

“We got stranded on the exit. For 2 1/2 hours we were at a standstill, thanks to a jackknifed semi,” he said. “We missed the meet, and had to turn around and come back. We left at 1 p.m. and got back after 9 p.m.”

Despite the long trip, Schmitz said his swimmers behaved well.

It would’ve been a difficult end to the season, but it wasn’t. The season lived on. After a coaches meeting, a decision was made to have a timed final on Saturday instead of the original format with prelims on Friday and finals on Saturday. With the new format, swimmers who finished below the state cut time Saturday in a timed final punched their ticket to state.

“We were very grateful for the decision they made,” Schmitz said. “The show must not go on sometimes.”

Albert Lea’s Preston Smith and Derek Wagner took advantage of the opportunity and earned spots at the Class A state meet. The Tigers hadn’t had a state qualifier since 2008.

“It’s been quite a drought, and I’m really proud of them for doing that,” Schmitz said. “They had two awesome efforts.”

Smith took sixth place in the 100-yard butterfly in 55.49 seconds, which was 0.87 seconds under the state-cut time.

“Preston’s a special story,” Schmitz said. “He’s been under state cuts in prelims two years in a row (in the 100-yard butterfly) and then lost in the finals both years. We were joyful to see him make it this year.”

Wagner — who competed at the varsity level for the first time at the start of this season because of a transfer rule — finished eighth in the 100-yard backstroke in 57.93 seconds. He beat the state-cut time by 0.64 seconds. In the 200-yard individual medley, Wagner missed the state-cut time by 0.58 seconds.

“It was Derek’s first section meet, and he swam with a lot of determination,” Schmitz said.

The Class A state preliminary races will start at noon Friday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The finals are set for noon Saturday.

Smith will swim the 100-yard butterfly in lane seven during heat four. Wagner will swim the 100-yard backstroke in lane eight of heat four.

Albert Lea racked up 93 team points and took 10th place out of 11 teams.

 

Saturday’s results

Albert Lea at Section 1A meet at Simley

Team Points

1. St. Thomas Academy 552

2. Simley 247

3. Faribault 226

4. Austin 216

5. Chaska 182

6. Northfield 175

7. Mankato West 168

7. Red Wing 168

9. Mankato East/Loyola 109

10. Albert Lea 93

11. Henry Sibley 75

 

200-yard medley relay: Derek Wagner, Daniel Gould, Preston Smith and Larry Holcomb (eighth, 1:45.31)

200-yard freestyle: Daniel Gould (16th, 1:55.81); Luke Sunblad (33rd, 2:09.27)

200-yard individual medley: Derek Wagner (ninth, 2:08.21)

50-yard freestyle: Preston Smith (16th, 23.65); Larry Holcomb (19th, 23.95); Estabon Johnson (32nd, 23.45); Andrew Field (42nd, 27.14)

100-yard butterfly: Preston Smith (sixth, 55.49)*; Kendrick Fjeldberg (31st, 1:07.64); Aaron Zogg (34th, 1:09.04)

100-yard freestyle: Larry Holcomb (20th, 53.89); Estabon Johnson (32nd, 58.10); Travis Nemec (40th, 59.98); Simon Carter (41st, 1;00.33)

500-yard freestyle: Daniel Gould (27th, 5:31.19); Andrew Field (33rd, 5:54.83); Luke Sunblad (34th, 6:03.48)

200-yard freestyle relay: Larry Holcomb, Derek Wagner, Daniel Gould, Preston Smith (seventh, 1:34.31)

100-yard backstroke: Derek Wagner (eighth, 57.93)*; Kendrick Fjeldberg (27th, 1:08.70); Travis Nemec (29th, 1:11.60)

100-yard breaststroke: Aaron Zogg (25th, 1:15.27); Carter Simon (28th, 1:17.98)

400-yard freestyle relay: Estabon Johnson, Kendrick Fjeldberg, Travis Nemec and Carter Simon (11th, 4:04.46)

 

*state qualifier