Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The sole Forest Lake Ranger at last weekend’s swimming and diving state meet was diver Erin Eagen, who entered the preliminaries on Nov. 15 with a target of making the finals and finishing in the top eight.

During last Thursday’s warm-ups, Eagen and head coach Deb Welch felt they needed to change the list of dives in order for Eagen to make the first cut, where they trim 32 competitors down to 20.

“Erin jumped in with a big dive right off the bat, and at one point we got to see her name up in first place,” Welch noted.

With such a great start, Eagen was in 11th place when the cut was made after the fifth round. A little stress for the first-time state participant made a brief appearance over the next three dives, which dropped Eagen down to 12th at the end of prelims.

“Still good enough to make it into the finals, but not really where we were hoping for her to be,” Welch admitted

On Friday it was back to practice in preparation for Saturday night’s finals, working out the details of the last three dives of the season.

Much like the section meet, where Eagen had a trio of solid dives to wrap up the 7AA title, she returned to the University of Minnesota’s Aquatic Center confident she would impress the judges.

“Erin warmed up nicely and got down to putting things right, with another big dive to start the night,” Welch said, in what turned out to be a catchy little rhyme.

With that grand opener, Eagen started moving up the standings, and Welch said she and Eagen’s smiles grew wider as the competition wore on.

“She reached her goal of getting into the top eight and receiving all-state honors her very first trip,” Welch shared.

“You really have to be proud of a person that just keeps on pushing and doesn’t give up until she reaches what she set out to do. Goals are something we all talk about and try to set — winners are the ones who actually put the hard work into reaching those goals.

“Erin is one of the hardest working teenagers around, so it really was no surprise that she accomplished what she did.”

Besides making it on to the medal podium at state, Eagen was also named All-Suburban East Conference for 2007.

Welch pointed out that of the 16 divers to make the finals on Saturday, three came from Section 7AA, and seven from the SEC. Five of the conference divers were in the top eight.

STATE AA DIVING

1. Laura Ryan - Elk River 452.65
2. Maggie Keefer - Stillwater 443.55
3. Val Bald - Woodbury 374.80
4. Ann Debronsky - Apple Valley 341.65
5. Natalia Merrifield - Jefferson 330.80
6. Anna Gleason - Roseville 326.00
7. Claire Budd - Woodbury 322.10
8. ERIN EAGEN - RANGERS 317.45

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