High School Swimmers & Divers Making Big Splash This Week
UNDATED (WJON News) -- Area high school swimmers and divers will be making waves over the next few days. Sartell-St. Stephen, Cathedral-St. John's Prep, Sauk Rapids-Rice, Rocori, and St. Cloud Tech all have athletes taking part in the Minnesota State Swimming and Diving Tournament.
Cathedral-St. John's Prep has four swimmers going to the meet, and Coach Jen Daiker (Dike-ER) says that two of her swimmers, sisters Claire and Izzy Westling have really taken on a leadership role in improving the entire team:
"They're humble with their talent and their gifts, and they try to share it as much as they possibly can with their teammates instead of trying to be these solo swimmers they try to do what they can to help their teammates."
Sartell-St. Stephen's Coach Hannah Nelson says it is really exciting for her swimmers to get to take part in the state meet:
"Super incredible, our section meet was definitely a fun one. We kind of had to climb back after a disqualification in the medley relay, so I know all these girls have really wanted to get a section championship and we ended up doing that and so now we're just taking that excitement and bringing it into this next week."
Nelson says it is a pretty big accomplishment for all swimmers and divers to get to go to the state meet. The Swimming and Diving State Tournament runs tomorrow through Saturday. To see a list of all five school's participants below.
SAUK RAPIDS-RICE:
Diver - Sophia Markfelder
SARTELL-ST. STEPHEN:
50 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay - Maddie Francois
200 IM, 500 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay - Holly Lenarz
200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay - Joslynn Stewart
200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay - Kaitlyn Lysen
CATHEDRAL-ST. JOHN'S PREP:
200 & 500 Free - Clarie Westling
50 & 100 Free - Izzy Westling
Medley Relay - Clara Lamberts, Elizabeth Krueger, Claire Westling, Izzy Westling
ST. CLOUD TECH:
50 Free, 100 Free and 400 Free Relay - Megan Willenbring
200 IM and 400 Free Relay - Ariana Outhwaite
50 Free, 100 Backstroke and 400 Freee Relay - Chelsea Willenbring
READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT:
- See 3D Photo Exhibit in Little Falls
- New Italian Restaurant to Open in Little Falls
- Little Falls Students Make a Splash for a Good Cause
- Restoring Downtown Little Falls -- One Piece of the Puzzle
- Couple Helping Restore Downtown Little Falls One Building at a Time
- Paynesville to Link to Two Trails Starting in 2024
- Paynesville Native Touring for Latest Novel
30 famous people you might not know were college athletes
Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli
CHECK IT OUT: 100 sports records and the stories behind them
LOOK: 20 Fascinating Photos From the First Modern Olympic Games in 1896
Gallery Credit: Caitlin PenzeyMoog