Four members of the Minnewaska-Morris Gators swimming and diving team will be competing at the State Swimming and Diving Meet after earning state berths during the Section 8A Meet last week at Detroit Lakes.

Lyla Stadtherr placed second in the 100 breaststroke to earn on state berth and then she turned around the next event to help three teammates join her as Lyla and Soffia Stadtherr, Melena Longtin and Becca Femrite placed second in the 400 freestyle relay to also earn a state berth.

It was close for the relay team though as they earned second by .26 over the third-place team to nab the last state berth of the meet.

“The Gators had an amazing weekend at the section meet and the relay state berth was such a great way to end the meet.  The Gators are pumped for their state trip,” head coach Sam Oellien said.  “We will be taking Lyla in the 100 breaststroke; Soffia, Lyla, Becca and Melena in the 400 free relay and our alternates will be Sage Barnstuble, Isabel Guerra and Mesa Kittelson.

“We had so many personal bests, improvements over night and records on the last day that it was a wonderful day overall for the Gators.”

Park Rapids dominated the section meet, totaling 482 points to beat out Alexandria (338.5) for first place in the nine-team field.  The Gators placed fifth with 211.5 points,.

The State Swimming and Diving Meet is set for Nov. 16-18 at the U of M. 

Section 8A Meet

Park Rapids earned first and the Gators were fifth at the Section 8A Swimming and Diving Meet last weekend at Detroit Lakes.

Lyla Stadtherr placed second in the 100 breaststroke to earn one state berth for the Gators, while the 400 freestyle relay team of Lyla Stadtherr, Soffia Stadtherr, Becca Femrite and Melena Longtin also qualified to the state meet by placing second.

Lyla Stadtherr swam to a time of 1:10.67 in the breaststroke, which was six seconds faster than her time in the same event at the WCC Meet.  Her time also broke the school record held by Julia Hoffman in 2015 (1:13.21).

The winning time at the section meet was 1:08.96 by Jisella Haskamp of Alexandria.

“Lyla has been swimming amazingly,” coach Oellien said.  “She had a four-second improvement overnight before the finals in the breaststroke and also helped lead us to the relay state berth.”

In the final event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay, Longtin swam an unofficial time of 54.33 in the anchor leg to rally her team to the runner-up finish and state berth.  The time of 3:51.1 for the Gators was just .26 ahead of the third-place time.

The winning time in the 400 relay was 3:46.7 by the Park Rapids team.

Oh yeah, it also broke the school record of 3:51.22, set in 2018 by Ali Femrite, Michele Stai, Lacey Entzi and Hannah Hoffman.

In the diving portion of the meet, Ella Roering placed sixth (292.65 points) and Clare Barnstuble was eighth (283.05).  “The divers have stepped up their game this year and started throwing in some different dives that were very difficult,” coach Oellien said.  “Clare and Ella were able to make the podium, while Adelyn Ferrian (207.95 points)  was able to break 200 points for the first time.”

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Gators though, as the early part of the meet brought its share of disappointment.

The meet started with the 200 yard medley relay team of Soffia Stadtherr, Gabby Schneider, Mesa Kittelson and Isabel Guerra placing seventh (2:07.56), followed by Becca Femrite placing fourth in the 200 freestyle (2:05.71) and Kittelson earning 16th in the 200 individual medley (2:42.24).

“It was an amazing finish for Mesa considering she only started swimming this event mid-season,” coach Oellien said.

In the 50 freestyle, Melena Longtin earned fourth (25.45) and Lyla Stadtherr was fifth (25.52) in an event the team was hoping to send an athlete to state in.

The top two athletes advance to state along with any athletes that have met a pre-determined standard.  The state standard for the 50 freestyle was 24.99 meaning the two Gators just missed out on a berth at state.

Kittelson came out in the next race and placed 11th in the 100 butterfly (1:08.81) before Longtin went on to earn third in the 100 freestyle; possibly her strongest event.

The first place time in the 100 freestyle was 54.16 and the second place time was 55.09, while Longtin placed third in 55.17, missing out on a state berth by .08.  The state standard for the 100 freestyle was 54.53.

In the 100 butterfly event, the winner was a seventh-grader from Detroit Lakes (1:00.9).

Becca Femrite was up next in the 500 freestyle and she placed fifth with a time of 5:52.55 and the 200 freestyle relay team added a fourth place by Lyla and Soffia Stadtherr, Femrite and Longtin in 1:45.77.

With three events to go, the Gators were still searching for their first state berth.

Soffia Stadtherr placed 15th in the 100 backstroke before Lyla Stadtherr broke through for the Gators with a second-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.67) with a time that also set a new school record.  The old record was 1:13.21, set by Julia Hoffman in 2015.

Not to be outdone, the 400 freestyle relay team also qualified to state and set a new school record as Lyla and Soffia Stadtherr, Longtin and Femrite swam to a time of 3:51.1, which edged the third-place team by .26 and also broke the school record by .12.

The Gators were well back in third place before Longtin’s anchor leg gave her team the second-place finish and another state berth for the Gators.

at Section 8A Meet

Team scoring:  (1) Park Rapids 482  (2) Alexandria 338.5  (3) Fergus Falls 324.5  (4) Detroit Lakes 258  (5) Minnewaska-Morris Gators 211.5  (6) Perham 185  (7) Fosston-Bagley-Crookston 125  (7) Thief River Falls 125  (9) Warroad 71.5

Individual results (winner and Gator top-16 results):

200 medley relay:  (1) Alexandria 1:53.13  (7) Gators #1 (Soffia Stadtherr, Gabby Schneider, Mesa Kittelson, Isabel Guerra) 2:07.56

200 freestyle:  (1) Holm, Alex 2:02.17  (4) Becca Femrite, Gators 2:05.71

200 individual medley:  (1) Haskamp, Alex 2:13.02  (16) Mesa Kittelson, Gators 2:42.24

50 freestyle:  (1) Schueller, PR 24.84  (4) Melena Longtin, Gators 25.45  (5) Lyla Stadtherr, Gators 25.52

Diving:  (1) Lorenz, Perham/NYM 404.1  (6) Ella Roering, Gators 292.65  (8) Clare Barnstuble, Gators 283.05

100 butterfly:  (1) Hamm, DL 1:00.9  (11) Kittelson, Gators 1:08.81

100 freestyle:  (1) Schueller, PR 54.16  (3) Longtin, Gators 55.17

500 freestyle:  (1) VerSteeg, FF 5:34.37  (5) Femrite, Gators 5:52.55

200 freestyle relay:  (1) Park Rapids 1:40.98  (4) Gators #1 (Lyla Stadtherr, Soffia Stadtherr, Becca Femrite, Melena Longtin) 1:45.77

100 backstroke:  (1) Urke, Alex 1:00.56  (15) S. Stadtherr, Gators 1:15.06

100 breaststroke:  (1) Haskamp, Alex 1:08.96  (2) Lyla Stadtherr, Gators 1:10.67

400 freestyle relay:  (1) Park Rapids 3:46.7  (2) Gators #1 (S. Stadtherr, L. Stadtherr, Femrite, Longtin) 3:51.1 

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