Wednesday, November 24, 1999

MINNEAPOLIS – The Austin Packers had some big successes and some disappointments in the preliminaries of the Minnesota State Class A Swimming and Diving Meet at the University of Minnesota Acquatic Center on Tuesday.

Freshman Meghan Walsh had it all – the ups and downs – in one race, the 200-yard individual medley. She was almost a second slower than her time at the Section 1A finals, but was still able to earn a spot in the finals with the eighth best time of the day. Walsh also made it to the consolation finals in the 100 Butterfly and she was a member of the 200 medley relay team that also made it to the consolation finals – reserved for the ninth through 16th best preliminary finishers.

The first swimming event of the day was also the first event Austin was entered in, the 200 medley relay. Senior Becky Sanford was the first one in the pool for the Packers with the lead off leg – the 50-yard backstroke leg. She was followed in the water by fellow senior, breast stroker Amy Martin. Walsh then followed with 50 yards of butterfly and eighth-grader Lauren Goettsch anchored the team in the freestyle. Austin came into the meet with the 19th best seeded time. They moved up eight places finishing in 11th. They shaved six-tenths of a second off their section final time with a 1 minute, 57.03 seconds. The top finisher was Sartell-St. Stephen coming in at 1:53.03. Northfield had the eighth fastest time, 1:55.62, to earn the final spot in the today’s finals.

Walsh then earned a place in the 200 individual medley final in the third event of the day. She swam in the second of four heats. She swam alongside defending state champion Emily Mondloh of Fridley in the third lane. In lane five was freshman Tara Murnane of Red Wing who finished just ahead of Walsh by 23-hundredths of a second in the Section 1A finals. This time Walsh beat out Murnane by 14-hundredths of a second with a time of 2:17.82.

"I was disappointed in the time, but was happy that I made it to the Finals," the soft-spoken Walsh said.

At first she wasn’t sure she had made it to the finals. After the fourth and final heat, in which four girls beat Walsh’s time, she thought she was just out of the top eight money. But it wasn’t so. She finished eighth and Murnane ninth. Her usual staid coach Lynn Gulbrandson was quite happy after the announcement of the finalist.

"The clock went so quickly when we swam," Gulbrandson said about the nerve-wracking experience, "and so slowly when we weren’t."

Goettsch then got her chance at individual glory in the 50 freestyle. She swam in the middle of three heats. Goettsch recorded a time of 26.03 (18th place) just out of the running for consolation finals. Mary Engelun of Duluth Central earned the last spot in the consolations with a time of 25.77. The top time was recorded by Samantha Dyshaw with a 24.29 in the sprint.

Walsh was again in the pool in the next event, the 100 butterfly. In the second of three heats Sartell senior Sarah Bohlsen swam a Class A state record of 57.67. The record she broke was already her own. In 1997, she swam a 58.47, also in the prelims. Bohlsen looked to three-peat today in the event finals. In the third heat, Walsh swam a time of 1:02.47. She finished one spot out of the finals. The person grabbing the finalist spot away from her was Sarah Kurachek of Benilde-St. Margaret’s with a time of 1:02.23.

Sanford then swam in the 500 freestyle; she finished with a time of 5:38.40, good for 22nd spot in a field of 30. Sixteenth place was earned with a swim of 5:34.52. The top spot went to top seed Katie Wind of Trinity School at River Ridge with a time of 5:17.03. Red Wing’s Murnane wiped away her disappointment caused by Walsh in the 200 IM with a second place time of 5:21.52.

The last event of the day was the 400 freestyle relay. The Austin team – Sanford, Goettsch Walsh, Sara Heins – after a big day of excitement and fun never got on track and swam 3 seconds slower than their Section 1A final swim, 3:53.97. The time was only good for 23rd place. The 16th place time was 3:51.78, the eighth place time was 3:47.94, and the top time was swam by the team from Rosemount, 3:43.97.

"We had some trouble on our turns today," Walsh said. "We had never swam in this pool before and had trouble with the partial wall that divided the 50 meter pool in half. We’ve always swam with a full wall at the turn."

The full story of Walsh’s two individual swims and the 200 medley relay will appear in Friday’s Austin Daily Herald.

CLASS AA Individual Leaders After Prelims

200 Freestyle: 1. Sarah Solfelt, Eden Prarie, 1:50.92.

200 IM: 1. Kaela Humphries, Eden Prarie, 2:05.27.

50 Free: 1. Katy Brentz, Mounds View, 24.23.

Diving: 1. Shannon Jackson, Anoka, 210.00.

100 Butterfly: 1. Sarah Solfelt, Eden Prarie, 55.94.

100 Free: 1. Katy Coombe, Wayzata, 51.85.

500 Free: 1. Jenna Stocker, Bloomington Jefferson, 5:01.01.

100 Backstroke: 1. Kaela Humphries, Eden Prarie, 56.89.

100 Breaststroke: 1. Meredith Saylor, Edina, 1:05.57.

CLASS A Individual Leaders After Prelims

200 Freestyle: 1. Katie Wind, Trinity School, 1:58.05.

200 IM: 1. Patti Wegner, Rosemount, 2:09.97.

50 Free: 1. Samantha Dyshaw, Montevideo/Yellow Medicine, 24.29.

Diving: 1. Chelsea Haviland, Thief River Falls, 228.45.

100 Butterfly: 1. Sarah Bohlsen, Sartell-St. Stephen, 57.67.

100 Free: 1. Emily Mondloh, Fridley, 53.62.

500 Free: 1. Katie Wind, Trinity School, 5:17.03.

100 Backstroke: 1. Kristin Ophaug, Northfield, 59.76.

100 Breaststroke: 1. Erin Seeba, Fergus Falls/Hillcrest, 1:08.86.