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Swimmers’ send 4 to state |
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Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
It turns out Anoka’s swimming and diving Section 7AA True Team championship in January was no fluke.
In that contest, the Tornadoes edge Forest Lake, as the Rangers had to settle for second place. At last weekend’s section meet, the Tornadoes replaced Forest Lake as the top program in 7AA, finishing with 322 points, while the Rangers came in fourth with 245 points.
The fourth-place finish doesn’t mean Forest Lake has been kicked out of the pool, however. Elijah Miller, John Goossens, Frank O’Neil and Josh Stomberg will keep on swimming this Friday and Saturday at the state meet, but they will not be joined by anyone from the Ranger diving team.
“I was extremely proud of the divers on Saturday,” head diving coach Deb Welch said. “Our section is a hard one for divers. It was hard to come away from this meet, with the places we received, knowing that other sections will be sending divers to compete at state that our team has beaten handily at many other meets.”
Welch would stack up section 7AA against any other in Minnesota, and unlike last winter — where Jeff Isaacson was able to grab a state berth — the 2008 Forest Lake diving season felt like it ended prematurely.
Jake Duffy came in 19th place, as he did not make it past the second cut.
Isaacson took sixth, with a quality list of dives and a solid performance, but the real downer starts and stops with Connor Florand.
The top four divers from each section make it to state, and in 2007, Florand found himself in the “missed it by that much” fifth-place position.
This year?
“Connor placed fifth, just missing state by one point,” Welch shared.
“I truly feel bad for Connor, who I felt received lower scores throughout the competition then he should have.”
It’s not much of a consolation prize today, but all three divers will be back next season.
During the swimming events, the Rangers qualified in events that looked strong going in.
Both Goossens and Miller will make a return appearance to the University of Minnesota’s Aquatic Center, each having qualified in two individual events, and they will team up with Stomberg and O’Neil in the 200 freestyle relay.
Miller will compete in the 200 IM as well as the 100 breaststroke. Goossens will load up on his specialty and swim in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events.
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