BEMIDJI – A personal record, nine first-place finishes and a pair of wins.
It was a great night for the Bemidji High حلحلآ» girls swimming and diving team.
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In their third event of the season, the Lumberjacks bested Perham 194-107 and Thief River Falls 206-89, moving to 2-1 in head-to-head meets this season.
“It’s been awesome, super fun getting to know the girls,†co-head coach Danielle Bartz said. “They’re working super hard. It’s great to see them encouraging each other and just all the hard work that they’re putting in and seeing that transition or play out at the swim meet.â€
At Bemidji’s first swim meet of the season a few weeks ago, Bartz and fellow head coach Lisa Friedt focused on using that initial competition as a learning opportunity, figuring out what areas of development each swimmer could work on in practice.
Tuesday’s win seemed to validate those strides toward improvement.
“We had some time drops (and) consistent swims, which is awesome,†Bartz said. (We’ve) been working a lot with their under-the-water and starts. We saw that play out tonight, which was fun to see.â€
Kennedy Olson had an especially impressive night for BHS, breaking a personal record in the diving event. She tallied 225.30 points, good for first place.
“I saw some great dives today,†Bartz said. “We have some young (divers) and some veterans, so it’s a nice (mix).â€
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Elle Willie took home the Lumberjacks’ first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:08.64.
Bemidji took first in the next four events: Abby Daman in the 200 IM (2:26.32), Finley Zothman in 50-yard freestyle (26.13), Zothman again in the 100 butterfly and Olson in diving.
The Lumberjacks took first in four of the last five events as well. Wille and Daman both notched second first-place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle (5:54.41) and 100 breaststroke (1:13.54), respectively.
Bemidji’s relay teams also took first in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay.
“They’ve been doing fabulous,†Bartz said. “You can gain and lose a lot of time under the water with breakouts, and everything and we’ve been hammering that, they have been doing their job. It’s awesome.â€
The Jacks’ seniors, including the aforementioned Olson, have been crucial in helping along development both in and out of the pool.
“I think it’s always nice when you have those older girls to kind of show you the ropes,†Bartz said. “Not even just about diving and swimming, but all the other things – pool etiquette and all the team bonding, the team dinners, just pulling them in and encouraging building up their confidence.â€
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The Lumberjacks are back in action next Tuesday, Sept. 17, taking on Warroad in a dual meet at home.
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