Posted: 3/10/04

Trio of divers compete at state

Joe Drennan
Sports Editor

Not many teams send divers to the state swimming and diving meet, but to send three divers is almost unheard of and thatís just what the Forest Lake swimming and diving team did.

The Forest Lake diving trio of seniors Brian Welch, Sam Chaussee, and freshman Dillon Hudalla went into the 32 diver meet with the goal to finish in the top 16.

After the first five dive prelims, the field of 32 was narrowed down to 20 and all three Forest Lake divers made the cut. The divers then dove three more times before the field was cut to 16. Chaussee missed the cut for the top 16, finishing 17th with a combined score of 224.40.

Welch and Hudalla both advanced to Saturdayís finals. In the finals, Welch finished with a combined score of 316.85 to take 14th place.

ìI donít know if they [Welch and Chaussee] were quite happy with their places,î head diving coach Deb Welch said. ìThey would have hoped to be in the top eight they told me after the meet, but they did a good job and itís a good way to end senior year.î

Hudalla opened some eyes, finishing 13th with a score of 319.90.

ìHe made a name for himself this year and most of the people that were ahead of him were seniors,î Welch said. ìThat means there is a wide open field for next year. He had told me at the beginning of the year that he hoped to make it to state some year and I said how about this year.î

Although the divers revealed that they really wanted to be in the top eight, they were still happy with the fact that they made it to the state meet.

ìIt takes a really talented person to be able to perform at a state meet,î Welch said. ìThere are a lot of people who never get to go to the state meet.î

The divers werenít the only ones at the state meet. Eighth grader Andy Knaak and sophomore Sam Gort competed in the swimming competition.

Knaak and Gort both swam in the 200-yard freestyle. Knaak finished with a time of 1:52.59, and Gort 1:53.56. The boys did not make it out of the prelims.

Knaak also swam in the 500-yard freestyle where his time was 5:04.88. Knaak was unable to move past the prelims.

(Editors note: In last weekís team picture Mark Anderson was incorrectly identified as Jim Anderson. Zach Clasen and assistant coach Ron Veil were also not pictured.)

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