Albert Lea girls’ swim team looks to make it to state tournament

 

ROCHESTER — The Albert Lea girls’ swim team traveled to Rochester Recreation Center Wednesday afternoon for the first day of the Section 1A swim meet.

The Tigers had a total of three events qualify for Friday’s championship finals, while one event qualified for the consolation championship.

In order to move into Friday’s races, individuals or relay teams must finish in the top eight to advance into the championship final or ninth through 16th to qualify for the consolation final.

The Tigers got out to a rough start in the first event, when the relay team of sophomores Taylor Palmer and Aliyah Studier, junior Ishika Jain and eighth grader Hatty Adams were disqualified in the 200-yard medley relay.

Three Tigers competed in the 200-yard freestyle. Sophomore Taya Jeffrey was the highest finisher in the group with a 21st-place finish and a time of 2:15.05. Seventh grader Julia Doppelhammer and senior Odelia Jensen also competed in the event coming in 31st and 32nd place, respectively.

Junior Jaeda Koziolek was the first Tiger to qualify for a championship final when she finished in fourth place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:19.32. Studier came in 28th place (2:50.83) and Adams came in 31st place (2:55.26).

Four Tigers swam in the fourth event of the day. Sophomores Brooke Hanson, Studier, Palmer and eighth grader Emery Brouwers all competed in the 50-yard freestyle. Hanson came out with the best time of 27:15 in 19th place. Brouwers came in 24th place (27.65), Palmer came in 34th place (28.63) and Studier came in 35th (28.80).

Koziolek marked her second championship qualifying event in the 100-yard butterfly with a fifth-place finish and a time of 1:02.05. Jain came in 24th (1:17.29) and Adams came in 27th (1:23.94).

Jeffrey broke the one-minute mark in the 100-yard freestyle, coming in 20th place with a time of 59.89. Hanson came in 23rd (1:00.18), Brouwers came in 24th (1:00.22) and Palmer came in 35th (1:03.13).

The longest event of the afternoon — the 500-yard freestyle, saw three Tigers compete. Seventh grader Hailey Deming came in 27th (6:32.68), Doppelhammer came in 29th (6:33.51) and Jensen came in 32nd (6:55.59).

In the second relay event of the meet, the team of Hanson, Brouwers, Jeffrey and Koziolek came in ninth place with a time of 1:48.01, just missing out on the championship final.

Freshman Ava Troster came in 27th place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:15.87, while sophomore Katelynn Nelson came in 29th (1:20.24) and Deming came in 31st (1:22.55).

As the lone Tiger in the 100-yard breaststroke, Jain came in 25th place with a time of 1:23.08.

The final event had the team of Hanson, Brouwers, Jeffrey and Koziolek earn the last championship final qualification for the Tigers with a fourth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The four events that made it to the second day of the meet will compete at noon Friday for a chance at the state meet. To earn a bid into the state meet, individuals or teams must place in the top two of the championship final or beat a predetermined standard time set by the state.