State Finals Recap- 4th Place!!

The Wayzata Girls Swimming and Diving team finished an impressive
fourth at the 2009 Minnesota State High School Championships Saturday
night at University Aquatic Center. The Trojans, who were seeded
seventh entering the meet, scored 157 points and improved on a 10th
place finish from 2008.

Wayzata was led by a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle relay and a
third-place showing the 400 freestyle relay. Wayzata received 11 point-
scoring performances and had seven championship finalists. Juniors
Heather Arseth and Sarah Deis led the way for Wayzata, each reaching
two individual championship finals. Arseth finished fourth in the 50
free and fifth in the 100 free while Deis took fifth in the 200 free
and sixth in the 500 free.

Stillwater won the title with 265 points, followed by Edina (205) and
Minnetonka (192). Finishing behind Wayzata was Eden Prairie (133),
Woodbury (130) and Maple Grove (126). The fourth-place finish is the
best for the Trojans since 2006 when they also placed fourth.

The turning point for the Trojans came in the 200 freestyle relay. The
Trojans ‘ team of Arseth (24.03), Jacqueline Stenroos (24.62), Katie
Kemmitt (24.20) and Sarah Deis (23.35) dropped 1.61 seconds off their
prelim time to take State runner-up honors in 1:36.20, shattering the
school record in the process. The story of the relay was the anchor
leg by Deis. Less than 10 minutes after finishing sixth in the 500
freestyle, Deis stepped up with a blistering 23.35 to close the relay
and touch out Maple Grove (1:36.42) at the wall. Deis’ split was the
second-best of the entire event, topped only by the anchor split of
Stillwater’s Hannah Bowen, who won the 50 freestyle earlier in the
meet. Stillwater claimed the title in 1:34.94. Wayzata’s time was also
an automatic High School All-America mark.

Wayzata’s relay confidence continued into the championship’s finale,
the 400 freestyle relay. The Trojans’ team of Arseth, Emma Paulson,
Stenroos and Deis finished third and broke the school record with a
time of 3:30.36. The Trojans’ trimmed 1.29 seconds from their prelims
effort and earned automatic High School All-America honors. Arseth led
off the relay in a sizzling 52.41, followed by strong splits from
Paulson (52.89) and Stenroos (53.68) before Deis brought it back with
an amazing 51.38. Stillwater finished first in 3:27.64, followed by
Minnetonka in 3:29.64. Wayzata held off Maple Grove at the end
(3:30.50).

Deis began an amazing finals session, claiming fifth place in 1:53.22.
She shattered the oldest standing school record in the Wayzata books
in the preliminaries, clocking a 1:52.83 to break the record set in
1990 by Cathy Beach. Deis improved from a seventh-place finish in 2008.
Deis also placed sixth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:06.40.
She trimmed .06 seconds off her prelim time from Friday evening.
Junior Megan Vezzosi just missed the consolation final, placing 18th
in the prelims with a time of 5:14.63.

Arseth scored Wayzata’s best individual finish of the state
championships by finishing fourth in the 50 freestyle with an All-
America consideration time of 23.95. She improved .10 seconds from her
prelim time to pick up 15 important team points. Arseth also moved up
from a 15th place performance as a sophomore.

Wayzata’s top scoring event came in the 100 freestyle with Arseth and
Paulson, a freshman, reaching the championship final. Arseth nearly
matched her 50 free showing by placing fifth in a career-best 52.41.
Paulson also clocked a career-best 52.73 to finish seventh. The
Trojans picked up 26 team points.

Paulson picked up huge team points for Wayzata by winning the
consolation final of the 100 backstroke to finish ninth in 59.13. She
improved .42 seconds from her prelim time and was the second-best
freshman performer in the event.

Senior Stacy Caprio placed 15th in the 100 butterfly with a time of
59.79. Junior Kelly Caprio narrowly missed the consolation final in
the prelims by .02 seconds, finishing 17th in 1:00.07.

Freshman Ashley Patras-Lancey placed 15th in 2:12.52 to lead the
Trojans in the 200 individual medley. In the prelims, Stenroos placed
25th with a time of 2:16.24.

To open the finals session, the 200 medley relay team of Paulson,
Stenroos, Stacy Caprio and Kemmitt placed 12th in 1:51.97.

In the 100 breaststroke, junior Alex Alviani wrapped up an amazing
junior year that saw her drop more than eight seconds off her time in
the 100 breaststroke by finishing 25th in the prelims with a time of
1:11.68.

State Prelim Update

So tonight was state prelims. AI finally made it to the pool about 30 minutes before the meet started. Long story, but we had a HUGE meeting at work today with our VP, and it went late, but went super well!! We were totally pumped as a team (at work). So i left the office at 4:30pm and the meet started at 6pm, at the U. I made it door to door in 45 minutes!!!

Anyway, meet started ok for us, 200 medley relay moved up to 10th place from 16th place seed time. In the 200 our girl got a lifetime best and is sitting 4th. IM'er got 14th and 50 freestyler is sitting in 5th.

Our flyer got 14th, 2 100 freestylers in the top 8!! Then 6th in the 500, 4th in the 200 free relay, 11th in the backstroke and 2nd in the 400 freestyle relay. In the last relay, we broke our school record by a full 2 seconds!!

Overall, a great night. We have a wake up swim tomorrow, then prepare for the banquet and off to California Sunday. Cannot wait.

Thank for checking in.

Wayzata Dominates Section 5AA Championship; Qualifies 11 For State Meet

The Wayzata Girls Swimming and Diving team used great depth to
dominate the 2009 Section 5AA Championships Saturday at the Minnetonka
Aquatics Center. Wayzata won eight event titles and tallied 645 points
while Mounds View was a distant second with 386 points and Armstrong
was third with 282.

Wayzata set itself up for the Section Final by qualifying all four of
their swimmers in each event at the preliminaries on Thursday.
The Trojans qualified at least one swimmer for the State AA
Championships in all 12 events and will send 11 competitors to the
meet held next week at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
Junior Heather Arseth set the tone for the Trojans, claiming titles in
the 50 and 100 freestyles and contributing to Trojan wins in the 200
and 400 freestyle relays. She shared the 5AA Section Swimmer of the
Year honors with Armstrong’s Emily Blasko.

Freshman Emma Paulson (100 backstroke), senior Stacy Caprio (100
butterfly) and freshman Ashley Patras-Lancey (200 individual medley)
also won section titles for the Trojans. They also swept the three
relays.

The Trojans started on the right foot, taking the title in the 200
medley relay with a time of 1:52.49. Freshman Emma Paulson, junior
Alex Alviani, Stacy Caprio and junior Katie Kemmitt combined to take
the title with Armstrong taking second in 1:53.46.

In the 200 freestyle, junior Sarah Deis punched a ticket for the State
Meet, taking second place in 1:55.99, behind Blasko’s time of 1:53.40.
Junior Megan Vezzosi just missed the state qualifying time of 1:57.63,
touching the wall in third place with a time of 1:58.07. Junior
Christa Sauer placed fourth in 1:59.54 and freshman Kirsten Olson
placed fifth in 2:03.63.

In the 200 individual medley, Patras-Lancey dropped almost four
seconds off her prelim time to take the championship with a time of
2:13.27. Teammate Jacqueline Stenroos also earned an invitation to the
State Meet, taking second in 2:14.35. Junior Keely Hunt also picked up
valuable team points for the Trojans, finishing fifth in 2:17.47 while
senior Jessica Eastman placed sixth in 2:20.70.

Arseth picked up her first section title in the 50 freestyle, touching
the wall first in 24.22. She broke the section record on Thursday
night with a time of 23.97. Also competing in the championship final
was Kelly Caprio, who finished fourth in 25.23, junior Laura Peterson
who took fifth in 25.57 and senior Sarah Rocca who placed sixth in
25.69.

The Trojans posted their most dominant performance of the night in the
100 butterfly, finishing 1-2-3-4. Stacy Caprio surged past her
sister, Kelly, in the final 15 yards to take the section title in
59.86. Kelly also punched a ticket to the state meet, finishing second
in 59.92. Peterson placed third in 1:00.84 while Stenroos was fourth
in 1:00.97.

Arseth was back on the blocks for the 100 freestyle where she
dominated the field with a winning time of 52.85. Armstrong’s Brooke
Evensen was second in 53.34 but Paulson also claimed a spot at the
state meet, posting a qualifying time of 53.37 to finish third. Rocca
placed fifth in 55.38 and Kemmitt was sixth in 56.03. Arseth shattered
the section record in the prelims with a time of 52.30.

Blasko cruised to a win in the 500 free in 5:04.66 but Deis posted a
strong time of 5:10.81 to finish second while Vezzosi also qualified
for the state meet with a time of 5:14.14. Sauer dropped an amazing
nine seconds from her prelim time to finish sixth in 5:30.46 while
Patras-Lancey was seventh in 5:23.88.

Wayzata crushed the field in the 200 freestyle relay as Arseth, Kelly
Caprio, Kemmitt and Deis turned in a section record time of 1:38.27 to
finish first, easily ahead of the second place effort of Mounds View
(1:42.51).

Paulson broke her own section record in the 100 backstroke, touching
the wall first with a time of 58.20. Irondale’s Breanna Loeschke was
second in 59.04 while junior Tara Williams placed third in 1:02.73.
Sophomore Ellen Stowe finished fourth in 1:03.76 and senior Briana
Daniels was sixth in 1:04.32.

It was an exciting finish in the 100 breaststroke as Wayzata’s Alviani
went to the wire with Mounds View’s Kara McClement. McClement was able
to touch out Alviani at the wall with a time of 1:10.65 but Alviani
earned a state berth with the runner-up finish in 1:10.75. Hunt placed
third in 1:12.45 and junior Alese Halverson was fourth in 1:13.88.
Freshman Abby Larson was seventh in 1:15.59.

The Trojans finished the meet with another section record en route to
taking the title in the 400 freestyle relay. Arseth, Paulson, Kemmitt
and Deis clocked a record mark of 3:34.58 to easily beat the second
place effort of Armstrong (3:39.40).

On a side not, Elizabeth was named Head Coach of the Year and I shared the Assistant Coach of the Year honors.

Overall, an awesome meet by our team.