The Crookston Pirate Girls Swim team will advance four girls in five events to the Section 8A Swimming and Diving Championship Finals at the Warroad Pool on Friday night.
Crookston will also advance two relay teams and one individual to the Consolation Finals on Saturday. Only the eight swimmers in the Championship finals have a chance to advance to the Minnesota State High School League State Swimming and Diving meet next week at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center. The top two swimmers and relay teams in the championship finals on Saturday will advance to the state meet.
“We had a great day. The girls are sitting with their best times in their pockets and that is all you can ask for,” said Coach Marley Melbye. “We had some great performances.”
Crookston was led by Thea Oman. The senior had a great day with a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.73 seconds, less than a second out of first place and almost a half a second ahead of third place. The 55.73 was Thea’s personal best by 2.52 seconds. “She looked absolutely solid today,” said Coach Melbye. “She hit those walls and hit the start and was right there neck and neck and she was looking fantastic.”
The had a third-place finish in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:03.86, 19/100ths behind the second-place swimmer and almost five seconds ahead of the fourth-place swimmer. Thea’s prelim time was a personal best by almost five seconds. “The is looking strong and to cut almost five seconds off her time is impressive,” said Coach Melbye. “Thea goes out and gives it everything she has and that is how she swam her 200 today. Thea has always responded well to tapering so for her to swim her best times today doesn’t shock me.”
The 200 Medley Relay team finished sixth place with a time of 2:06.40. They are 11 seconds behind the second-place team.
Madison Hoiland finished eighth in the 100 Breastroke with a time of 1:15.36, which is a personal best by almost two seconds and she is less than two seconds behind second place going into the finals. “Madison was sitting in the fourth of fifth spot coming into the last 50 and she picks up the tempo and changes gears and had a great finish,” said Coach Melbye. “It will be a tight race tomorrow and she is one that loves the competition so it will be fun to see how she does tomorrow.”
Consolation Finals-
The Pirates will have the 200 Freestyle Relay team of Claire Oman, Madison Hoiland, Elizabeth Erdman and Thea Oman competing in the consolation finals after a ninth-place finish with a time of 1:51.10. The 400 Freestyle Relay team of Fallon Johnson, Victoria Proulx, Muira MacRae, and Kenzie Aamoth finished ninth place with a time of 4:58.57. The girls will get one more race on Saturday. “The relay’s looked solid,” said Coach Melbye. “We are asking for the girls to give us their best times and they were close with some of their best splits. They gave it their all and we are happy with how we are sitting.”
Elizabeth Erdman finished 16th place in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:12.83. “We are excited for Elizabeth and she has been battling injuries at the end of the year,” said Coach Melbye.
“We had a great day with a lot of fantastic performances. Fallon Johnson swam well and had her best time in the 500 freestyle and she had a great meet,” said Coach Melbye. “Kenzie Aamoth had a great day and it was fun to see her have her best time by two seconds in the 100 breaststroke. She was flying high and she had a great meet today. The girls are feeling good about their swims today and to have so many personal bests is great and was nice to see. I was pretty happy today and the girls looked solid.”
The finals/consolation finals will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in the Warroad Pool.
Fallon Johnson in the 500 freestyle Claire Oman swimming in the 100 freestyle
| Pirates (Advancing to Saturday) Yellow highlight advances to finals | Event | Time | Place |
| Thea Oman | 100 Freestyle | 55.73 | 2nd |
| Thea Oman | 200 Freestyle | 2:03.86 | 3rd |
| Thea Oman, Madison Hoiland, Elizabeth Erdman, Claire Oman |
200 Medley Relay | 2:06.40 | 6th |
| Madison Hoiland | 100 Breaststroke | 1:15.36 | 8th |
| Consolations Finalists | |||
| Claire Oman, Madison Hoiland, Elizabeth Erdman, Thea Oman |
200 Free Relay | 1:51.10 | 9th |
| Fallon Johnson, Victoria Proulx, Muira MacRae, Kenzie Aamoth |
400 Free Relay | 4:58.57 | 9th |
| Elizabeth Erdman | 100 Butterfly | 1:12.62 | 16th |
Elizabeth Erdman swimming in the 100 Butterfly
