Tigers swim past Southwest/Henry

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The Farmington swimming and diving team won eight events as it cruised past Minneapolis Southwest/Henry 92-91 on its Senior Night last Tuesday at Dodge Middle School.

The final two events were swum as exhibitions after Kirsten Kracke’s second-place finish in the 100 backstroke pushed the home team’s lead to 92-62.

“It was our fourth meet in eight days and we’re starting to turn the corner from fatigue and getting back to fast swimming,” Farmington coach Jen Marshall said.

Junior Kaitlyn O’Reilly continued to pile up the first-place finishes, claiming gold in four events. She opened with a 2:01.48 clocking in the 200 freestyle and joined teammate Chelsea Gehrke for a 1-2 showing in the 500 freestyle before anchoring the first-place 200 free relay, which also featured Chloe Holton, Ellie Sundet and Robin Ellis. O’Reilly closed out the meet by teaming up with Kracke, Catherine Gehrke and Cora Ruzicka for a winning time in the 400 free relay.

Ruzicka picked up a pair of individual wins in the 200 individual medley and 100 freestyle and combined with Chelsea Gehrke, Kracke and Sundet for a second-place swim in the 200 medley relay.

Kracke and Sundet added a 1-2 finish in the 50 freestyle and Kendall Novak, Tori Sontag and Nikki Cayard placed 1-2-3 in the 1-meter dive.

Five seniors were honored on the Tigers’ senior night: Ellis, Maddie Alexander, Melanie Brothers, Vivian Jasinski and Megan Maniaci.

“They have made huge contributions to this program over the years.” Marshall said.

The Tigers compete again at the True Team section meet Saturday at Winona High School.

Tags: girls swimming, high school, sports, farmington, tigers, prep