MINNEAPOLIS — The goal will be for ninth.
Both Brainerd Warriors relays and freshman Avery Duerr advanced to the Class 2A State finals following their finishes Thursday, Nov. 17, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
All three will be competing in the consolation finals Friday.
The top 16 swimmers advance to Friday’s finals. The top eight will compete in the championship finals for a chance to podium. Swimmers in places 9-16 will compete in the consolation finals.
Brainerd’s 200-yard medley relay of Mya Tautges, Avery Duerr, Mariah Alderson and Isabelle Ploof finished in 11th place with a 1:50.61.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They looked good,” Warriors head coach Dan Anderson said. “We were right there. I don’t think our exchanges were 100%. But we swam well. We’re thrilled just to swim again tomorrow.”
Minnetonka swam the fastest prelim time with 1:44.89. St. Michael-Albertville swam the ninth-fastest time of 1:50.31 and will be the top seed in Friday’s consolation final. The Warriors couldn’t match their section runner-up time of 1:48.49, which would have had them eighth and in the championship finals.
“The goal is to get ninth,” Anderson said. “Just to get here is tough. We swam a little bit slower, but we have some room to make up there.”
Brainerd’s 200 freestyle relay of Gabby Chalupsky, Scarlett Anderson, Ploof and Tautges swam a 12th-place 1:39.39.
“That relay swam very close to their section time and we would have had to have gone faster to make the top eight,” Anderson said. “A couple of the girls actually had faster splits than they did at sections, but we think we have it tomorrow. We think we can do something to go faster tomorrow. The pressure is off anyways.”
Shakopee posted the fastest prelim time of 1:36.32. Rosemount swam the ninth fastest time of 1:38.49.
“It really is the last night of the season so they have nothing to lose,” Anderson said. “They’ve been loose all year. They certainly don’t get tight anyways, but it certainly can’t hurt.”
Despite not matching her section time, Duerr still advanced to Friday’s consolation final in the 100 breaststroke as she just hit the cut line with a 16th-place 1:09.38.
ADVERTISEMENT
Duerr opened with a 32.09 on her first 50 and swam a 37.29 on her second 50.
“She had been battling,” Anderson said. “She was sick all week on Monday and Tuesday and got back in the water on Wednesday. She swam a warm-up. She was a little tentative and concerned that maybe she wasn’t able to bring her race home. Maybe tomorrow she can let it rip and swim with some reckless abandon.”
Tautges will have an outside chance to swim in the 50 freestyle finals as she just missed the cut. The junior posted an 18th-place 24.45. Lucy Paczosa of Stillwater swam a 24.28 for 16th place to set the cut line.
Haley Zelen of Shakopee swam the fastest prelim time of 23.34.
Tautges tied with Blaine’s Kalli Stark for 18th. Following the meet, the two did a swim-off to determine who would be the second alternate should someone not be able to go on Friday.
“That 50 has gotten incredibly fast,” Anderson said. “The 17th and 18th girls are alternates for tomorrow in case two girls get sick. It was our choice to either flip a coin or do a swim-off. Blaine was OK with either and Mya chose to do the swim-off. That’s Mya, She chose to race her. We didn't travel all the way down here to flip a coin.”
State swim prelims
200 medley relay: 1-Minnetonka 1:44.89, 11-Brainerd (Mya Tautges, Avery Duerr, Mariah Alderson, Isabelle Ploof) 1:50.61
50 freestyle: 1-Haley Zelen (Shakopee) 23.34, 18-Tautges 24.45
200 freestyle relay: 1-Shakopee 1:36.32, 12-Brainerd (Gabby Chalupsky, Scarlett Anderson, Ploof, Tautges) 1:39.14
100 breaststroke: 1-Cate Pawlaski (Andover) 1:03.04, 16-Duerr 1:09.38
Next: Brainerd in Class 2A Swimming and Diving Finals at University of Minnesota Aquatic Center 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18
The Trust Project
