By Becky Walz,
Ten events will take the pool for the Decorah swim and dive team at the girls’ state swim meet.
The Vikes qualified all 10 events as at-large bids based on time throughout the state and moved into the No. 11 spot in the rankings.
Overall, Decorah finished third in the team standings Saturday, putting up 281.50 points. Cedar Rapids Kennedy won the team title with 455 points.
The state swim meet is Friday and Saturday, Nov. 12-13, at the Marshalltown YMCA.
“We had a great day at regionals and accomplished all we set out to do,” said Coach Allie Bachelder. “A third-place finish and 10 events going to compete at state. I could not be prouder of this team as they are a great group to coach in and out of the pool.”
Qualifying process
There are no classes in swimming and all schools from across the state compete against one another.
Throughout the season, swimmers can qualify based on time standards. However, those swimmers still needed to compete in the event at the regional meet regardless if the swimmers have met the qualifying standard. If a swimmer is disqualified at the regional meet or did not finish the regional event, they will not be allowed to compete in that event at the state meet even if they had achieved the qualifying standard during the regular season.
The field of 32 state qualifiers consists of all swimmers that have met qualifying standard and competed in that event at the regional meet. The rest of the qualifying field was filled from the next fastest regional times from swimmers that did not meet the state standard during the regular season. Regional champions from each event are automatic qualifiers for the state meet regardless of time.
There are no qualifying standards in the relay events. Regional champions, plus the next fastest 26 times, qualified for the state meet. Relays will be a four-heat, timed final on the Saturday evening session of the state meet.
In diving, the regional champions, plus the next 26 best diving performances, qualify for the state meet.
Tenacious 10
The Vikes will have three relays, two divers and four individuals jump in the pool Friday and Saturday.
Brinley Krivachek and Kailyn O’Gara both punched tickets to the diving portion of the state meet during Thursday’s regional. Krivachek finished fourth with 403.15 points to earn her second trip to state, while O’Gara was ninth with 352.40 points.
Paige Werner will be in the water for a pair of individual races. The junior finished sixth in the 50 free in 25.15 seconds and seventh in the 100 free in 55.34 seconds, qualifying on time for the third time in her career for state.
Julia Alberts will join Werner in the water in the 100 free after she posted a time of 56.09 seconds at the regional, good for ninth place. It will be her second time competing in the event at state.
Posting the best individual finish for the Vikings was Emily Voyna in the 100 fly. The senior had a time of 1:01.00, which was good enough for fourth place.
For the second year in a row, Margaret Rhodes will be competing in the 500 free at state after finishing fifth Saturday. She had a time of 5:23.54.
All three relays will compete at state. The 200 medley will start Saturday’s finals competitions. Maeley Nefzger, Rhodes, Voyna and Werner posted a time of 1:54.05. That was good enough for bronze.
It was a fourth-place effort for the 200 free relay. Alberts, Katerina Kovarik, Voyna and Werner stopped the clock in 1:43.20.
Coming into the wall sixth was the 400 free relay of Alberts, Rhodes, Grace Bachelder and Kovarik. The quartet posted a time of 3:46.49 to move on to state.
Seeding
Krivachek and O’Gara will be in action Friday, Nov. 12, at 11 a.m. Krivachek enters the state competition seeded 12th, while O’Gara is seeded 32nd.
The medley relay squad is seeded 19th overall with a time of 1:54.04. The top seed is Ames with a time of 1:45.91.
In the 50 freestyle, Werner is seeded 23rd with a time of 25.15 seconds. Meghan Donald of Ames is at No. 1 with a seed time of 23.24 seconds.
Her time of 1:01.00, Voyna enters the 100 fly race as the 27th seed. Leading the field in the No. 1 spot is Scarlet Martin of Iowa City West with a time of 54.72 seconds.
The 100 freestyle will see Werner as the 30th seed with her time of 55.34 seconds, while Alberts sits 32nd with her time of 56.09 seconds.
In her 500 freestyle, Rhodes is seeded 28th with a time of 5:23.54. The top spot belongs to Waukee’s Jessi Wigham in 5:00.57.
Decorah is seeded 18th in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:43.20. Ames leads the field in No. 1 with a time of 1:36.39.
With a time of 3:46.49, the Viking 400 free relay is seeded 21st. In the top spot is Iowa City West 3:32.29.
Regional team scores
1. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 455; 2. Linn-Mar 429.50; 3. Decorah 281.50; 4. Dubuque Senior 244; 5. Dubuque Wahlert 226; 6. Dubuque Hempstead 173.50; 7. Iowa City City High 160.50; 8. Vinton-Shellsburg, 95; 9. Tipton 68
Individual results
*Denotes state qualifier
1 mtr. diving – 4. Brinley Krivachek 403.15*; 9. Kailyn O’Gara, 352.40*
200 medley relay – 3. Maeley Nefzger, Margaret Rhodes, Emily Voyna, Paige Werner, 1:54.05*
200 free – 9. Katrina Kovarik, 2:04.07; 10. Julia Alberts, 2:04.50; 16. Joey Vobr, 2:15.05
200 IM – 6. Rhodes, 2:17.43; 9. Ashley Elsbernd, 2:29.29; 13. Thea Schissel, 2:33.15
50 free – 6. Werner, 25.15*; 12. Nefzger, 26.82; 19. Grace Bachelder, 27.08
100 fly – 4. Voyna, 1:01.00*; 13. Elsbernd, 1:06.76; 17. Mya Redenius, 1:12.18
100 free – 7. Werner, 55.34*; 9. Alberts, 56.09*; 13. Bachelder, 58.52
500 free – 5. Rhodes, 5:23.54*; 11. Vobr, 5:53.36; 16. Rebecca Bruening, 6:01.14
200 free relay – 4. Alberts, Kovarik, Voyna, Werner, 1:43.20*
100 back – 10. Nefzger, 1:06.28; 11. Schissel, 1:06.72; 13. Kylie O’Hara, 1:07.18
100 breast – 6. Kovarik, 1:13.09; 10. Lauren Johnson, 1:16.14; 14. Redenius, 1:20.96
400 free relay – 6. Alberts, Rhodes, Bachelder, Kovarik, 3:46.49*
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.