The Minnewaska-Morris Gators placed third at the WCC Swimming and Diving Meet at Montevideo, Friday.  The strong Melrose Area program placed first with 717 points, followed by Sauk Centre (503), the Gators (386), Montevideo (295) and Holdingford (284).

Melena Longtin came home with three firsts for the Gators, while Clare Barnstuble won the diving competition, and the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Longtin, Lyla Stadtherr, Becca Femrite and Soffia Stadtherr was also first.

The top two place finishers in each event earned All-Conference and third place earned honorable mention.

“What an amazing night for the Gators,” coach Sam Oellien said.  “Our leaders came through with great swims and dives and the younger Gators stepped up huge and added to our team score.  I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of all these kids.”

Next up for the Gators is the Section 8A Swimming and Diving Meet, set for Nov. 10-11 at Detroit Lakes.  The top place finishers advance to the State Meet, set for Nov. 16-18 at the U of M. 

WCC Meet

Melena Longtin continued her excellent season by winning three firsts and adding a third to lead the Gators to a third-place finish at the WCC Meet last week.

Longtin won the 50 freestyle (25.74) and 100 freestyle (56.64) events, while also leading the 200 freestyle relay team to a title and the 400 freestyle team to a third.

Other members of both the 200 freestyle (1:44.6) and 400 freestyle relay teams (3:54.16) were Becca Femrite, and Soffia and Lyla Stadtherr.

Those four swimmers have been among the leaders for the Gators all season.

“Melena was on fire and swam a 56.64 time in the 100 freestyle to earn first and All-Conference,” coach Oellien said.  “The 100 freestyle was an amazing event for the Gators as Berdine Kleindl and Sarah Dougherty also both dropped time to score points for the team in that event, and Sage Barnstuble placed 10th.”

Femrite added a third in the 200 freestyle (2:07.68) and third in the 500 freestyle (5:53.07), while Lyla Stadtherr was also third in the 50 freestyle (26.26) and third in the breaststroke (1:16.25), and Soffia Stadtherr was also sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:16.25).

Clare Barnstuble led the Gator divers with a title in the diving portion of the meet with 352.95 points.  Earning sixth was Ella Roering (300.05) and placing 15th was Adelyn Ferrian (186.2 points).

Mesa Kittelson added a fifth in the 100 butterfly (1:09.29), while the 200 medley relay team of Soffia Stadtherr, Gabby Schneider, Kittelson and Isabel Guerra earned sixth (2:20.99), Sage Barnstuble earned seventh in the 200 freestyle (2:20.58), and the Gators also had three eighth-place finishes in relays.

The Gators #2 relay team of Jillian Schott, Phemie Oeltjen, Vylet Frank and Ella Larson placed eighth in the 200 medley relay (2:22.08), the team of Kittelson, Berdine Kleindl, Sage Barnstuble and Guerra earned eighth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:59.68), and the team of Ella Larson, Dougherty, Guerra and Sage Barnstuble finished eighth in the 400 freestyle relay (4:27.08).

In three of the most exciting races of the meet, two Melrose swimmers had times of 2:07.09 and 2:07.37 to edge Becca Femrite (2:07.68) in the 200 freestyle event; Longtin (25.74) edged a swimmer from SC (25.93) and teammate Lyla Stadtherr (26.26) in a close finish in the 50 yard freestyle; and the Gators’ 200 yard freestyle relay team earned first by .49 over a team from Melrose.

at WCC Meet

Team scoring:  (1) Melrose Area 717  (2) Sauk Centre 503  (3) Minnewaska-Morris Gators 386  (4) Montevideo 295  (5) Holdingford 284

Individual results (winner and top-15 Gators):

200 medley relay:  (1) Melrose 1:55.3  (6) Gators #1 (Soffia Stadtherr, Gabby Schneider, Mesa Kittelson, Isabel Guerra) 2:20.99  (8) Gators #2 (Jillian Schott, Phemie Oeltjen, Vylet Frank, Ella Larson) 2:22.08

200 freestyle:  (1) Reed, Melrose 2:07.09  (3) Becca Femrite, Gators 2:07.68  (7) Sage Barnstuble, Gators 2:20.58  (13) Ella Larson, Gators 2:26.98

200 individual medley:  (1) Drossel, Melrose 2:14.84  (10) Mesa Kittelson, Gators 2:41.95  (15) Oeltjen, Gators 2:56.88

50 freestyle:  (1) Melena Longtin, Gators 25.74  (3) Lyla Stadtherr, Gators 26.26  (12) Isabel Guerra, Gators 28.85  (13) Sydney Gibson, Gators 29.06

Diving:  (1) Clare Barnstuble, Gators 352.95  (6) Ella Roering, Gators 300.05  (15) Adelyn Ferrian, Gators 186.2

100 butterfly:  (1) Schirmers, SC 1:03.63  (5) Kittelson, Gators 1:09.29  (15) Vylet Frank, Gators 1:23.28

100 freestyle:  (1) Longtin, Gators 56.64  (10) S. Barnstuble, Gators 1:04.01  (15) Sarah Dougherty, Gators 1:07.38 

500 freestyle:  (1) Smith, Melrose 5:48.88  (3) Femrite, Gators 5:53.07  (15) Ella Larson, Gators 6:42.85

200 freestyle relay:  (1) Gators #1 (L. Stadtherr, S. Stadtherr, Femrite, Longtin) 1:44.6  (8) Gators #2 (Kittelson, Berdine Kleindl, S. Barnstuble, Guerra) 1:59.68

100 backstroke:  (1) Schirmers, SC 1:02.48  (6) S. Stadtherr, Gators 1:10.82  (15) Abbigail Peterson, Gators 1:22.88

100 breaststroke:  (1) Drossel, Mel 1:06.93  (3) L. Stadtherr, Gators 1:16.25  (15) Schneider, Gators 1:25.82

400 freestyle relay:  (1) SC 3:51.28  (3) Gators #1 (L. Stadtherr, S. Stadtherr, Femrite, Longtin) 3:54.16  (8) Gators #2 (Larson, Dougherty, Guerra, S. Barnstuble) 4:27.08

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