The Minnewaska-Morris swimming and diving team ended the season at the State Class A Swimming and Diving Meet, Nov. 16-18 at the University of Minnesota.  

Lyla Stadtherr competed in the 100 breaststroke and also raced on the 400 yard freestyle relay team with sister, Soffia Stadtherr, and Melena Longtin and Becca Femrite.

Stadtherr, who set a new school record at the section meet with a time of 1:10.67, had a time of 1:11.42 during the preliminaries at the state meet, Friday, missing out on a berth in the finals by just over 2.5 seconds.

In the 400 freestyle relay, the Gators placed 24th with a time of 3:53.03 and also failed to make the 16-team finals.  The Minnewaska-Morris team placed second at the section meet with a time of 3:51.1, which also broke a school record.

It was a great ending for the Gators, who went 5-3 overall this year, which included a 3-2 mark to finish third in the conference.

Seniors lost to graduation from this year’s team, coached by Sam Oellien, are Soffia Stadtherr, Katie Koenig, Grace Zenk, Sage Barnstuble, Kaia Anderson, Chaeli Zahl and Gabby Schneider.

“The swimmers swam very well at state,” coach Sam Oellien said.  “We were excited to get there and have the chance to perform.  Unfortunately, we are losing one swimmer from the relay (Soffia Stadtherr), but we are already looking forward to next season.

“The girls had a great time at the state meet and it was a great way to finish out our season.  We weren’t able to get any athletes to the finals, but they competed hard and we were happy with the way they closed out the season.”

Helping out Oellien this year on the coaching staff were Kathy Walker (diving coach), Shannon Dougherty, Summer Rydell and Ruth Hovel.

The Gators held their season-ending banquet recently, where it announced the season-ending team awards and honors.

•  Melena Longtin earned the “Highest Point Scorer” award for the Gators this year.  She was a consistent top finisher in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events, as well as the relays.

Earning “Hardest Worker Awards for Swimming” were Becca Femrite, Sage Barnstuble and Isabel Guerra, while selected for the “Hardest Worker for Diving” was Adelyn Ferrian.

Selected for the “Most Improved Swimmer” award were Berdine Kleindl and Grace Zenk, while earning the “Most Improved Diver” award were Clare Barnstuble and Ella Roering and earning the “Most Improved JV Swimmer” honor were Aranza Guerrero Lara and Lilie Tonak.

Winning the “Gator Award” for someone who does it all; show’s great team spirit; works hard; reaches out to all ages and cheers and supports teammates were Gabby Schneider and Soffia Stadtherr.

In addition, earning the Golden Guppy awards were Lizeth Vazquez Carmona and Tenley Steinhofer, and winning the Honorary Guppies award were Grace Zenk and Sydney Gibson.

•  Earning All-Conference for the Gators this year, by pacing in the top two at the WCC Meet, were Melena Longtin, Clare Barnstuble, Soffia Stadtherr, Becca Femrite and Lyla Stadtherr, while also earning honorable mention for earning thirds were Femrite, Longtin, and Soffia and Lyla Stadtherr.

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!