Swimmers prepare for Missota, section tournies
It was a busy week for the New Prague Trojan swimming and diving team, as the team had competitions on four of five days. The Trojans were at Chaska Thursday, Oct. 10, the divers competed in the Section true team meet in Northfield Friday, with the swimmers doing the same on Saturday, and the Trojans completed their dual meet schedule against St. Peter on Monday, Oct. 14.
The Trojans are now preparing for the Missota Conference championships Saturday, Oct. 26, at Shakopee. The Section 1A meet will be Wednesday and Friday, Nov. 6 and 8, at Rochester.
"Friday's meet was also a night to celebrate the seniors involved with the program, as well as their parents that have supported them all season,” said Coach Jennifer Ongie-Jindra.
"We have an amazing group of parents that have allowed these young ladies to succeed this season. We have multiple qualifiers for sections, including Katherine Reyant (100 backstroke), Abigail Sirek (100 butterfly), Jewel Luckow (100 backstroke), Sarah Helvick (500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke), Abby Kallal (50 free and 100 free), Sydney Anderson (50 free, 100 free, 100 backstroke), and Lilly Schulte (200 individual medley, 50 free, 100 butterfly, 100 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke).
“Many of the swimmers that have made cuts in one event are very close in a few others. We will be heading into our championship meets these next few weeks. We are looking forward to top performances from all of the swimmers and divers."
Hawks 92, Trojans 83
Britin Thomsen took first place in diving, as New Prague swept the diving competition. Ashley Nye and Bella Schulte were second and third respectively. "These ladies have exceeded all expectations this year," Ongie-Jindra said.
Other highlights included Katherine Reyant close to her section cut in the 200 free. Abby Kallal had a personal best in the 50 free with a time of 28.47 seconds. Lindsey Vogel and Sarah Helvick had their personal bests for the season in the 50 free as well. Sarah Helvick, Abby Kallal and Maddie Vulcan had top times in the 100 butterfly, which is not an easy race, and these swimmers are becoming more versatile in their events and are discovering some hidden strengths within these new races.
True team meet
New Prague placed 10th of 11 teams at the Section 1A True Team meet at Northfield. Visitation won the meet with 2,135 points, followed by Mankato West (1,933), Faribault (1,726), Albert Lea (1,708), Northfield (1,543), St. Peter (1,362), Austin (1,314), Mankato East (892), Simley (859), New Prague (690) and Bloomington Kennedy (543).
Britin Thomsen took second place in diving with an 11-dive score of 373.60. Lilly Schulte placed 17th in the 100 butterfly and 26th in her 200 IM.
"This was a very competitive meet with all but Red Wing from our section participating," Ongie-Jindra said.
Hannah Schoenbauer dropped over 22 seconds in her 500 freestyle. She has been working hard on improving her technique in practice and it all came together at this meet for a huge drop in time.
Other highlights: Katie Capaul, a senior and one of the captains achieved her best time in the 200 freestyle, Sarah Helvick posted a personal best in the 500 freestyle, Brittany Reed had an outstanding race with her 100 breaststroke and Abby Kallal had a personal best in her 100 freestyle.
Saints def. Trojans
It was a bittersweet night for five of the Trojan athletes as it was their final home meet. "We celebrated our seniors with touching speeches given by their fellow athletes. There was laughter and some tears, but most importantly there were memories made that will last a lifetime for these young ladies," Ongie-Jindra said. "They have spent numerous hours in the pool over the years, and the smell of chlorine is forever in the pores of their skin!"
Highlights: Britin Thomsen took first place in diving , breaking her own school record; Rachel Beaudette had a personal best in the 200 free, dropping almost 20 seconds; Abby Sirek had an outstanding performance in the 200 freestyle; Sydney Anderson broke the 28 barrier in her 50 freestyle getting 27.82, and Lindsey Vogel and Jewel Luckow were hundredths of a second away from section cuts in the 50 freestyle.
"We had top performers in the 100 freestyle, Sydney Anderson and Abby Kallal, and Hanna Henning and Katie Capaul all had great races," the coach said.
"We have a young team this year with many seventh and eighth graders on the team. They have been consistently dropping time this season, and now that we are coming up to championships we are looking forward to seeing these girls perform at even higher levels once they are tapered and rested after a long season."
