Posted: 3/1/06
Swimmers take 2nd at sections
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The Forest Lake High School boys swimming and diving teamís attempt to take a third 7AA Sectional title in a row was thwarted by a determined Blaine squad that pulled out a close victory Saturday.
Just like last year, the margin of victory was tight and was not certain until the final event. Last year the Rangers took the meet by beating Blaine by seven points. This year Blaine took the victory from the Rangers by an even tighter margin of four and a half points.
Blaine took the section meet with 410 points followed by the Rangers with a score of 405.5. There was a large gap to third place Coon Rapids at 310 points, followed by Champlin Park 287.5, Cambridge-Isanti 208, Irondale 200, and Andover at 168.
The Rangers did take the top two meet honors with Dillon Hudalla earning his second Section 7AA diver of the meet award and Sam Gort earning Section 7AA swimmer of the meet honors.
The Rangers are sending five individuals to state in seven of the twelve events. The group is lead by Sam Gort and Mark Sandager who are both representing the Rangers in an unprecedented four events each.
Gort will be making his third trip to state after taking first in his two individual events the 200 yard freestyle (1:50.84), and the 500 yard freestyle (5:00.78). Gort was also a member of the first place 200 yard freestyle relay team (1:33.30), and the first place, and school record setting, 400 yard freestyle relay team (3:23.88).
Mark Sandager nearly matched Gort with three firsts and a second in his four events. Sandager was first in the 100 yard butterfly (56.12) and second in the 100 yard backstroke (57.69). Sandager was also part of the first place 200 and 400 yard relay teams.
Not to be outdone, Hudalla continued his success at Sections and will also be making his third appearance at state as he took first, setting a new school record in diving with 418.65 points.
The remaining two state participants will be John Goossens and Elijah Miller who, with Gort and Mark Sandager, comprise the 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay teams.
ìThrough my years of coaching the Forest Lake boys team, I have noticed the team as a whole working towards building a successful program,î Rangers head coach Vailodash said.
ìThey have found that swimming and diving is more than just physical training and that success follows being able to laugh often, to win the respect of peers and parents, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the downfalls of defeat and find the best in others. Ultimately, these young men found that working hard on their own personal development allowed the team on a whole to be successful. I am looking forward to the opportunity of coaching this team for many more years and congratulate them on their success.î
Diving coach Deb Welch added, ìOur goal was to win the section championship again, but we did not achieve that. Still it is hard to be disappointed when the boys worked so hard and accomplished so much.
ìIt has been six years since we sent a relay team to state and we are sending two. Two new school records were set ñ the 400 Free Relay and Dillon blew away the diving competition by over 91 points. Itís been a great year. We have entries in seven of the twelve events at state. I donít know if that has ever been done before.î (2005 had entries in five events, 1995 and 1998 had entries in four.)
The Rangers have two swimmers in the maximum of four events (Gort and Mark Sandager), which has never happened.
Though the Rangers are sending the five to state, their strong section performance was boosted by strong performances from the following section swimmers and divers:
Finals:
Elijah Miller 3rd Place 200 IM 2:10.57
5th Place 100 Breast 1:06.29
John Goossens 3rd Place 100 Free 51.30
5th Place 50 Free 23.68
John Gavanda, Tyler Sperry, Matt Elden, Scott Isaacson 4th Place 200 Medley Relay 1:50.99
Jeff Isaacson 5th Place Diving 282.95
Peter Sandager 5th Place 500 Free 5:25.13
Tyler Sperry 7th Place 200 IM 2:14.28
Matt Elden 7th Place 100 Fly 1:00.69
Clint Krummi 8th Place 100 Back 1:04.60
The 2006 Class AA State Swimming and Diving meet will be at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center. Diving prelims will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday, swimming prelims at 6 p.m. on Friday, with swimming and diving finals at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605