Wolves surge to second at section meet
Posted 11/13/02

By Dawn Slade

Milaca will have four swimmers competing at the Class A State Girls Swimming and Diving Meet scheduled Friday and Saturday at the Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota.

The Wolves came up with one of their top performances of the season to claim second-place honors at the Section 4A meet Friday at St. Cloud Tech.

Chisago Lakes, which ended Milacaís reign as Rum River Conference champion Oct. 26, won the 4A title behind a tremendous showing in the diving event.

The Wildcats, the pre-meet favorite according to Milaca Coach Joe Wildman, scored 65 of their team total 414 points in diving, taking first, second, fourth and sixth place. Chisago Lakes ended Proctor-Hermantownís two-year run as 4A champion.

Milaca captured the second-place plaque by scoring 334.5 points while Sauk Rapids placed third at 319, Proctor-Hermantown was fourth at 298 and Princeton was fifth at 295.5. Foley placed sixth at 131, Two Harbors was seventh at 127, Duluth Denfeld was eighth at 106, Duluth Central was ninth at 84, Cloquet-Esko-Carlton was 10th at 61 and Ogilvie placed 11th with 39 points.

"We knew going into the meet that Chisago Lakes would be very hard to catch and we knew it would be a real battle for second place," said Wildman, who was named Section 4A Coach of the Year. "Weíre very pleased with our showing. We swam some great times.

"Your goal is to peak at the end of the year and our team did."

Seniors Chrissy Dee and Kelly Doty, junior Janelle Packard and sophomore Jenna Zimmer will represent the Wolves at the state meet.

The top two placers in the individual and relay swim events earn berths to the state meet, along with the top four divers. Swimmers can also advance to the state meet by reaching a state-qualifying standard.

Dee, Doty, Packard and Zimmer teamed up to win the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay, earning 40 team points for the Wolves in both events.

They won the 200 medley relay with a Section 4A record time of 1:54.55. Milaca broke the old mark of 1:54.96 which was held by Proctor-Hermantown.

Proctor-Hermantown placed second Friday at 1:56.07. Chisago Lakes, which topped Milaca at the Rum River meet, placed third at 1:56.52.

Milacaís combination won the 4A 200 freestyle title with a time of 1:43.97. Proctor-Hermantown placed second at 1:44.46.

"Chrissy, Kelly, Janelle and Jenna have been another great combination for us and they really put things together at the section," said Wildman.

Packard also won Milacaís lone individual crown and gained a state berth by winning the 100 butterfly in 1:01.88, which was also a Section 4A record. Packardís career best time broke the former 4A mark of 1:02.10 by Dena Quick of P-H.

Laura Bolf of P-H placed second with a time of 1:05.08.

And, Doty also gained a state berth in the 100 breaststroke with a state-qualifying time of 1:11.43. She placed third in the event behind first-place sophomore Heidi Pietsch of P-H (1:10.23) and second-place junior Lisa Pearson of Princeton (1:10.77).

The Class A State Meet, which opened with diving preliminaries today (Thursday) continues Friday at noon with preliminaries in the swim events. Finals in swimming and diving begin Saturday at noon.

"Our goal at state is to swim as well as we can and see where that puts us," said Wildman.

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Following is how Milaca scored its other points at the 4A meet (the top eight relays and top 16 individuals earn team points):

ï200 freestyle: Eighth grader Megan Westling tied for sixth in 2:11.03 while eighth grader Anika Erickson was 13th in 2:14.18.

Sophomore Steph Thayer of Sauk Rapids placed first in 2:05.75.

ï200 individual medley: Packard finished fourth in 2:23.10 while ninth grader Anna Wildman was seventh in 2:30.68 and sophomore Maggie Mycue was ninth in 2:35.49.

ïPrincetonís Pearson placed first in 2:20.59.

ï50 freestyle: Kelly Doty finished fifth in 26.48 seconds, Dee was sixth in 26.57 and eighth grader Maggie Doty was 13th in 27.39.

Chisago Lakes senior Ashley Timm placed first in 26.26.

ïDiving: Sophomore Vanessa Halstead placed fifth, one place away from a state berth, with a score of 314.60 while ninth grader Lyssa Wildman was eighth with a score of 278.30.

CL standout Amanda Zacher won diving with a score of 411.85.

ï100 butterfly: Lyssa Wildman finished eighth in 1:11.13 while Anna Wildman was 12th in 1:09.57.

ï100 freestyle:Dee placed fifth in 57.92 while Zimmer was 10th in 58.91 and Maggie Doty was 11th in 100.39.

ï500 freestyle: Westling placed seventh in 5:58.73 and junior Tracy DeVries placed 13th in 6:08.10.

Senior Jessica Eagan of CL was first in 5:44.27.

ï100 backstroke: Zimmer finished 10th in 1:11.27 while Mycue was 12th in 1:11.60.

Junior Allie Jones of CL was first in 1:05.20.

ï100 breaststroke: Erickson finished 10th in 1:16.61.

ï400 freestyle relay: Milacaís combination of Maggie Doty, Westling, Mycue and Erickson finished fourth in 4:00.50.

Proctor-Hermantown was first in 3:52.02.