By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Perham/New York Mills swimming team opened a busy week of action with 24 all-time or season personal records on Tuesday night. The swimmers also had three more section qualifiers and a new middle school record in Fergus Falls.

Among the highlights on Tuesday night was an 8 second drop in time by Elle McDonald in the 200 freestyle, which was good enough to qualify her for the section meet. Seventh grader Jaelyn Rodewald cut 25 seconds off her time in 200 freestyle.

In the 200 individual medley, freshman Katelyn Kratzke cut 3 seconds, sophomore Madeleine Lamb dropped 5 seconds, junior Josi Mindermann cut 17 seconds, eighth grader Taylor Ziemke dropped 2 seconds to set her sixth middle school record of 2:31.44 to break teammate Irene Mursu’s record of 2:07 that was set in 2017.

In the 50 freestyle, eighth grader Madison Lohse cut just over a second, while eighth grader Maggie Vickmark dropped a quarter second, junior Lucie Meyer out-touched her previous personal record by just .03 seconds. 

Sophomore Brittney Lorentz and Avery McAllister continued their strong season in diving as they took first and second place respectively. 

In the 100 butterfly, junior Lucy Schultz set a new season personal record by 1 second to capture first place, while Kaydi Mursu set a new season personal record by 2 seconds to qualify for the section meet. Seventh grader Megan Galbrecht dropped 4 seconds in the event. 

McDonald cut a quarter of a second and Vickmark dropped just over a second in the 100 freestyle, while Irene Mursu set a new season personal record by 5 seconds in the 500 freestyle. Meyer dropped 8 seconds and qualified for sections in the 500 freestyle and Rodewaldt cut 18 seconds in the event.

In the 100 breaststroke, Kratzke cut .03 seconds off her time and Lamb set a new season personal record by 3 seconds. 

200 Medley Relay: 2. Lucie Meyer, Irene Mursu, Taylor Ziemke, Lucy Schultz 2:10.73 4. Molly Meyer, Katelyn Kratzke, Maggie Vickmark, Jasmyn Olson 2:24.14

200 Freestyle: 3. Kaydi Mursu 2:24.14, 4. Elle McDonald 2:28.59, 6. Jaelyn Rodewald 2:48.41

200 IM- 2. Taylor Ziemke2:31.44, 5. Megan Galbrecht 3:05.43, 6. Jasmyn Olson 3:10.74

50 Freestyle: 4. Lucie Meyer 30.94, 5. Maggie Vickmark 31.09, 6. Molly Meyer 31.32

Diving- 1. Brittney Lorentz 220.75, 2. Avery McAllister 202.30

100 Butterfly: 1. Lucy Schultz 1:17.20, 3. Kaydi Mursu 1:20.66, 5. Megan Galbrecht 1:46.68

100 Freestyle: 4. Molly Meyer 1:07.49, 5. Elle McDonald 1:08.25, Maggie Vickmark 1:08.52

500 Freestyle: 2. Irene Mursu 6:07.88, 5. Lucie Meyer 6:44.49, 6. Jaelyn Rodewald 7:41.20

200 Freestyle Relay: 2. Kaydi Mursu, Lucy Schultz, Elle McDonald, Irene Mursu 1:58.20, 4. Maggie Vickmark, Megan Galbrecht, Jaelyn Rodewald, Taylor Ziemke 2:05.06, 5. Madison Lohse, Josi Mindermann, Madeleine Lamb, Katelyn Kratzke 2:23.38

100 Backstroke: 2. Taylor Ziemke 1:15.41, 5. Josi Mindermann 1:27.30, 6. Madison Lohse 1:34.65

100 Breaststroke: 1. Irene Mursu 1:20.47, 5. Lucy Schultz 1:26.65, 6. Katelyn Kratzke 1:27.81

400 Freestyle Relay: 3. Kaydi Mursu, Lucie Meyer, Elle McDonald, Molly Meyer 4:40.48, 5. Josi Mindermann, Megan Galbrecht, Jaelyn Rodewald, Jasmyn Olson 5:27.78

Thursday

The Perham/NY Mills swimmers ended their regular season with a bang on Thursday night as the team set 23 new season or all-time personal records and had seven first place finishes on the JV or varsity. The team also set another middle school record at Minnewaska High School.

While the individual accomplishments were shown on the scoreboard, the coaches and members of the swim team received even higher accolades after the meet. 

“And possibly the greatest accomplishment of the evening: After the meet, these girls were complimented on their remarkable sportsmanship. They were incredibly supportive of the other team and made a point to cheer them on, congratulate them, and celebrate their parent night. These girls aren’t just great athletes, they are also incredible people,” said head coach Jensen Grimley. 

Among the highlights on Thursday night was a first place finish by the 200 medley relay team and person records in the 200 freestyle by Maggie Vickmark and Jasmyn Olson. 

In the JV 100 individual medley, Irene Mursu took first place in a landslide as she also posted an all-time PR and Lucie Meyer took second place with an all-time PR. 

Elle MacDonald dropped 4 seconds in the varsity 200 individual medley and in the 50 freestyle, seventh grader Megan Galbrecht cut  a second and a half for an all-time personal record and first place finished in the JV heat. In the varsity heat, Taylor Ziemke took first place and junior Kaydi Mursu cut about a quarter of a second off her time.

Each of the Yellowjacket divers set new personal records as Brittney Lorentz, Avery McAllister and Madison Ruther swept the top three spots on the podium.

In the 100 butterfly Katelyn Kratzke dropped 4 seconds, while Vickmark took about a quarter of a second off her time in the 100 freestyle and seventh grader Jaelyn Rodewald dropped 3 seconds.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Vickmark, Galbrecht, Rodewald and Ziemke set a new middle school record as they bested their time from Tuesday by almost 2 seconds to set a new record of 2:04.89 to top the 2004 time of Kaila Formanek, Abby Kratzke, DJ Lehman and Megan Shipman.

In the 100 backstroke, Kratzke dropped about 5 seconds in the JV heat, while Ziemke cut 1 second off her time to finish first in the varsity heat and McDonald dropped 2 seconds and Olson set a new season PR by half a second. 

In the 100 breaststroke, Irene Mursu set an all-time PR by 1 second for first place and Kaydi Mursu dropped 3 seconds. 

200 Medley Relay: 1. Elle McDonald, Irene Mursu, Maggie Vickmark, Taylor Ziemke 2:07.93, 5. Molly Meyer, Kaydi Mursu, Jaelyn Rodewald, Josi Mindermann 2:31.49

200 Freestyle: 2. Maggie Vickmark 2:27.61, 5. Jasmyn Olson 2:48.57

200 IM: 2. Elle McDonald 2:45.05, 4. Lucy Schultz 2:48.67, 6. Madeleine Lamb 3:19.72

50 Freestyle: 1. Taylor Ziemke 26.38, Kaydi Mursu 29.73, Molly Meyer 31.09

Diving: 1. Brittney Lorentz 248.40, 2. Avery McAllister 223.20, Madison Ruther 182.80

100 Butterfly: 3. Lucie Meyer 1:29.14, 4. Katelyn Kratzke 1:36.94, 5. Madeleine Lamb 1:43.75

100 Freestyle: 3. Lucy Schultz 1:06.15, 4. Maggie Vickmark 1:08.30, 6. Jaelyn Rodewald 1:17.02

500 Freestyle: 2. Molly Meyer 6:58.45

200 Freestyle Relay: 2. Irene Mursu, Kaydi Mursu, Lucie Meyer, Lucy Schultz 1:56.51, 4. Maggie Vickmark, Megan Galbrecht, Jaelyn Rodewald, Taylor Ziemke 2:03.15, 6. Madeleine Lamb, Jasmyn Olson, Madison Lohse, Josi Mindermann 2:24.09

100 Backstroke: 1. Taylor Ziemke 1:13.97, 3. Elle McDonald 1:15.97, 6. Jasmyn Olson 1:26.75

100 Breaststroke: 1. Irene Mursu 1:16.19, 3. Kaydi Mursu 1:30.19, 6. Megan Galbrecht 1:35.19

400 Freestyle Relay: 2. Molly Meyer, Lucie Meyer, Elle McDonald, Lucy Schultz 4:34.04, 5. Jasmyn Olson, Katelyn Kratzke, Madeleine Lamb, Megan Galbrecht 5:17.94