• Stadtherr, Longtin, Femrite, Kittelson, Barnstuble and Roering all qualify to state

The Minnewaska Area-Morris Area Gators qualified six girls in five events to the State Swimming and Diving Tournament, set for Nov 14-16 at the U of M.

Lyle Stadtherr qualified to state in three events, while Melena Longtin will go to state in two events and those two will be joined by Becca Femrite, Mesa Kittelson, Clare Barnstuble and Ella Roering.

All-in-all, it was a great day of racing and diving for the Gators, who placed fifth overall at the Section 8A Meet, which took place Thursday through Saturday at UM-Morris.

Park Rapids won the section title with 422.5 points, while Fergus Falls was right behind with 402 points, Alexandria was third with 320 and the Gators were fifth with 238 points out of nine teams.

The Gators also broke two school records as the 200 medley relay team of Femrite, Stadtherr, Kittelson and Longtin placed second with a time of 1:54.27, which broke the old record by over two seconds (1:56.65 set in 2018 by Schoen, Steinke, Entzi and Kuehne) and Stadtherr also broke her own school record by winning the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:09.19 (old record of 1:10.67).

The top two from each event qualified to the State Meet, along with swimmers and divers that met a pre-determined state standard.  “I am extremely proud of the Gators; I have never sent this many to the state meet and I believe Clare and Ella are the first divers to ever go,” coach Sam Oellien said.  “Lyla had a fantastic day.  She is such a talented swimmer.  From prelims to the finals, she had huge drops in both the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.  The State Meet should be a lot of fun.”

Section 8A Meet

The Gators didn’t waste any time picking up a state entry as the 200 medley relay team of Becca Femrite, Lyla Stadtherr, Mesa Kittelson and Melena Longtin placed second with a school-record time of 1:54.27.

Three events later, Stadtherr placed second (25.19) and Longtin was third (25.22) in the 50 freestyle, which was won in a time of 25.09.  That meant Stadtherr had earned another state berth, while Longtin missed out by .03.

During the diving portion of the section meet, which took place Friday, Clare Barnstuble placed third (334.2 points) and Ella Roering was fourth (331.25).  Both divers made it to state on standard and both divers will be the first from the Gators’ team to qualify to the State Diving Meet.

Kittelson was up next in the 100 butterfly and she placed sixth (1:06.22) before Longtin was back in the pool for the 100 freestyle.

This time, Longtin made sure she wouldn’t miss out by swimming a time of 54.85 to place second by .04.  Yes, that’s as close as some of these events get.

“The 50 and 100 freestyle are tough races,” coach Oellien said.  “The 50 in particular is very unforgiving, but Melena used her disappointment from that to fuel the 100; not only did the second finish get her to state, but she also swam the state-qualifying time.  I was very happy for her.”

Femrite earned a fourth in the 500 freestyle for the Gators with a time of 5:42.98 and the 200 freestyle relay team of Kittelson, Sydney Gibson, Femrite and Stadtherr earned third with a time of 1:46.15.

Two events later, the Gators had their final state berth of the night as Stadtherr broke her own school record in the 100 breaststroke with a section-winning time of 1:09.19.

In the final event of the day, the team of Kittelson, Gibson, Femrite and Longtin placed fourth in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:52.23, giving the Gators yet another podium finish.

Gibson was also 13th in the 50 freestyle (27.68) and 11th in the 100 freestyle (1:01.61), while Adelyn Ferrian was 15th (242.65 points) and Yavonne Vanhorn 16th (226.55) in diving.

at Section 8A Meet

Team scores:  

(1) Park Rapids 422.5  (2) Fergus Falls 402  (3) Alexandria 320  (4) Detroit Lakes 303.5  (5) Minnewaska-Morris Area Gators 238  (6) Perham-New York Mills 196  (7) Thief River Falls 119  (8) Fosston-Bagley 100 (9)  Warroad-Roseau 55

Individual results (winner and top-16 individual Gators):

200 medley relay:  (1) Alexandria 1:53.69  (2) Gators #1 (Becca Femrite, Lyla Stadtherr, Mesa Kittelson, Melena Longtin) 1:54.27

200 freestyle:  (1) Holm, Alex 2:01.65

200 individual medley:  (1) Urke, Alex 2:14.74

50 freestyle:  (1) VerSteeg, FF 25.09  (2) Lyla Stadtherr, Gators 25.19  (3) Melena Longtin, Gators 25.22  (13) Sydney Gibson, Gators 27.68

Diving:  (1) Rowland, PR 381.0  (3) Clare Barnstuble, Gators 334.2  (4) Ella Roering, Gators 331.25  (15) Adelyn Ferrian, Gators 242.65  (16) Yavonne Vanhorn, Gators 226.55

100 butterfly:  (1) Hamm, DL 1:00.5  (6) Mesa Kittelson, Gators 1:06.22

100 freestyle:  (1) Schueller, PR 53.77  (2) Longtin, Gators 54.85  (11) Gibson, Gators 1:01.61

500 freestyle:  (1) Hamm, DL 5:30.94  (4) Femrite, Gators 5:42.98

200 freestyle relay:  (1) Fergus Falls 1:41.43  (3) Gators #1 (Kittelson, Gibson, Femrite, Stadtherr) 1:46.15

100 backstroke:  (1) Urke, Alex 1:00.81

100 breaststroke:  (1) Stadtherr, Gators 1:09.19

400 freestyle relay:  (1) Park Rapids 3:43.47  (4) Gators #1 (Kittelson, Gibson, Femrite, Longtin) 3:52.23

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!