Girls swimming and diving: Ponies prevail at Maroon and Gold Invite

MINNEAPOLIS — Finishing at least third or higher in all 12 events, Stillwater also flexed plenty of depth while cruising to a victory in the Gold Division of the Maroon and Gold Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

The third-ranked Ponies racked up 565 points to outdistance fifth-ranked Shakopee (404) and seventh-ranked Prior Lake (328) for the title. North Dakota teams Bismarck Legacy (268) and Bismarck Century (182) completed the top five in the 13-team field.

“It was a great meet,” Ponies coach Brian Luke said.

In addition to its regular varsity lineup, the Ponies were able to bring the equivalent of two additional teams to compete as exhibition swimmers, even though just three entries contributed to the scoring. The impressive performances extended beyond just those contributing to the varsity scoring.

“We can get nine people and nine relays so everybody gets to swim at least twice,” Luke said. “That’s a fun deal for them, and our exhibition kids were competitive so it worked out really great all the way around.”

Stillwater notched four first-place finishes, including the 400 freestyle relay where Reese Bilot, Neva Sanders, Margaret Reed and Lucy Paczosa posted a winning time of 3:38.86.

Claire Christianson won the 200 individual medley in 2:09.14 while teammates Audrey Serres (2:15.38) and Maddie Mathiason (2:16.46) weren’t far behind in fifth and sixth place.

The Ponies landed three swimmers among the top five in the 100 freestyle, led by Paczosa in first place with a time of 52.24. Jayla Petersen (54.78) and Reed followed in third and fifth.

Sanders contributed a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.44 and the Ponies also placed three among the top five in the 100 breastroke. Cristianson (1:06.85) finished second in the breastroke while Mathiason (1:07.89) and Serres (1:08.79) placed fourth and fifth.

“Those were pretty good events for us,” Luke said.

Alex Kruse led the Ponies in diving with a score of 349.35 to place third. The rest of the divers are showing nice improvement as well, the coach suggested.

“The divers, in general, from top to bottom did a nice job,” Luke said. “(Avery) Crickenberger failed her last dive, but otherwise she would have been up around seventh place. It was Cyra’s (Brazzell) first meet doing a reverse dive and (Sadie) Grecian just missed scoring, so we have four divers that can do a full list now.”

The only record broken in the meet came in diving, with Madeline Kohel of Minneapolis Washburn posting a winning total of 543.05. She broke the previous meet record of 499.35 set by Stillwater’s Maggie Keefer, a two-time state diving champion, in 2008.

The Ponies were strong across the board and the depth is a positive sign as they prepare for some important meets coming up.

“Right now, we’re just focusing on that True Team coming up so that’s four deep and the four relays are a pivotal thing that takes a lot of personnel,” Luke said. “Then each individual event goes four deep so you want to find out who’s going to be the one that performs in that particular environment.

“So far they seem to be moving in the right direction.”

Team standings

1. Stillwater 565; 2. Shakopee 404; 3. Prior Lake 328; 4. Bismarck Legacy 268; 5. Bismarck Century 182; 6. Mounds Park Academy/St. Croix Prep/Gentry Academy 157; 7. Moorhead 144; 8. Chanhassen 132; 9. St. Paul Central 56; 10. Centennial 30; 11. Minneapolis Washburn 25; 12. Owatonna 21; 13. Cambridge-Isanti 13.

Stillwater results

200 medley relay — 1. Shakopee, 1:49.30; 2. Stillwater A (Neva Sanders, Maddie Mathiason, Claire Christianson and Jayla Petersen) 1:50.54; 9. Stillwater B (Isabel Koch, Audrey Serres, Hailey Schmit and Rhiannon Fay) 1:58.67; 11. Stillwater C (Varya Simochkina, Laney Hellyer, Shaeffer Watson and Ava Fox) 2:01.63.

200 freestyle — 1. Ivy Solt (PL) 1:54.89; 3. Margaret Reed (St) 1:58.01; 6. Reese Bilot (St) 2:01.39; 9. Annika Beck (St) 2:03.06.

200 individual medley — 1. Claire Christianson (St) 2:09.14; 5. Audrey Serres (St) 2:15.38; 6. Maddie Mathiason (St) 2:16.46.

50 freestyle — 1. Arianna Zelen (Sh) 23.72; 2. Lucy Paczosa (St) 24.00; 4. Jayla Petersen (St) 25.37; 12. Rhiannon Fay (St) 26.55.

Diving — #1. Madeline Kohel (MW) 543.05; 3. Alex Kruse (St) 349.35; 9. Cyra Brazzell (St) 296.15; 14. Avery Crickenberger (St) 271.65.

100 butterfly — 1. Genessa Sentyrz (Sh) 58.66; 3. Neva Sanders (St) 59.71; 6. Mariia Simochkina (St) 1:02.96; 7. Hailey Schmit (St) 1:02.97.

100 freestyle — 1. Lucy Paczosa (St) 52.24; 3. Jayla Petersen (St) 54.78; 5. Margaret Reed (St) 55.25.

500 freestyle — 1. Ivy Solt (PL) 5:11.55; 3. Annika Beck (St) 5:22.29; 5. Reese Bilot (St) 5:26.05; 9. Lauren Kissinger (St) 5:35.24.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Shakopee, 1:38.44; 2. Stillwater A (Lucy Paczosa, Jayla Petersen, Margaret Reed and Claire Christianson) 1:40.14; 9. Stillwater B (Rhiannon Fay, Reese Bilot, Lauren Kissinger and Julia Petersen) 1:47.26; 11. Stillwater C (Laney Hellyer, Jayden Kemp, Mariia Simochkina and Ava Fox) 1:49.85.

100 backstroke — 1. Neva Sanders (St) 59.44; 11. Hailey Schmit (St) 1:05.10; 12. Rhiannon Fay (St) 1:06.73.

100 breastroke — 1. Arianna Zelen (Sh) 1:05.34; 2. Claire Christianson (St) 1:06.85; 4. Maddie Mathiason (St) 1:07.89; 5. Audrey Serres (St) 1:08.79.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Stillwater A (Reese Bilot, Neva Sanders, Margaret Reed and Lucy Paczosa) 3:38.86; 6. Stillwater B (Julia Petersen, Lauren Kissinger, Audrey Serres and Maddie Mathiason) 3:50.90; 10. Stillwater C (Madelyn Kissinger, Jayden Kemp, Isabel Koch and Ruby Paczosa) 3:56.81.

# Meet record

Stillwater 92, Mounds View 86First-place finishes in 10 of 12 events carried Stillwater to a 92-86 Suburban East Conference victory over Mounds View on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Stillwater Middle School.

Claire Christianson (200 individual medley and 100 breastroke), Lucy Paczosa (50 and 100 freestyle) and Neva Sanders (100 butterfly and 100 backstroke) each won two individual events for the Ponies (5-0 SEC, 5-0).

Alex Kruse also placed first for the Ponies in diving with a score of 223.45.

Mounds View’s Ellie Bina won the 200 and 500 freestyle races, but the Ponies also prevailed in all three relays as part of a balanced lineup.

“They don’t quite have the depth that we do, but they’re formidable as usual,” Luke said.

Stillwater 92, Mounds View 86

200 medley relay — 1. Stillwater (Claire Christianson, Maddie Mathiason, Neva Sanders and Jayla Petersen) 1:52.45; 3. Stillwater (Varya Simochkina, Audrey Serres, Mariia Simochkina and Rhiannon Fay) 1:57.51.

200 freestyle — 1. Ellie Bina (MV) 1:53.94; 3. Margaret Reed (St) 1:59.56; 4. Reese Bilot (St) 2:03.60; 5. Annika Beck (St) 2:05.27.

200 individual medley — 1. Claire Christianson (St) 2:10.65; 2. Audrey Serres (St) 2:16.37; 3. Maddie Mathiason (St) 2:17.30.

50 freestyle — 1. Lucy Paczosa (St) 24.36; 2. Jayla Petersen (St) 25.71; 4. Rhiannon Fay (St) 26.53.

Diving — 1. Alex Kruse (St) 223.45; 5. Avery Crickenberger (St) 181.70; 6. Cyra Brazzell (St) 157.30.

100 butterfly — 1. Neva Sanders (St) 59.86; 2. Mariia Simochkina (St) 1:03.46; 3. Hannah Drexel (St) 1:05.58.

100 freestyle — 1. Lucy Paczosa (St) 52.51; 2. Jayla Petersen (St) 55.08; 4. Margaret Reed (St) 55.78.

500 freestyle — 1. Ellie Bina (MV) 5:02.58; 2. Annika Beck (St) 5:27.35; 3. Mariia Simochkina (St) 5:28.51; 4. Lauren Kissinger (St) 5:36.73.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Stillwater (Jayla Petersen, Margaret Reed, Lucy Paczosa and Claire Christianson) 1:41.31; 3. Stillwater (Shaeffer Watson, Reese Bilot, Hannah Drexel and Ava Fox) 1:48.77.

100 backstroke — 1. Neva Sanders (St) 1:00.24; 2. Hailey Schmit (St) 1:05.06; 3. Rhiannon Fay (St) 1:06.25.

100 breastroke — 1. Claire Christianson (St) 1:07.96; 2. Maddie Mathiason (St) 1:09.24; 3. Audrey Serres (St) 1:10.01.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Stillwater (Neva Sanders, Margaret Reed, Maddie Mathiason and Lucy Paczosa) 3:40.09; 3. Stillwater (Reese Bilot, Annika Beck, Julia Petersen and Audrey Serres) 3:47.74.