Ladies Swimming and Diving: Warriors prepped for one more profitable season – Brainerd Dispatch

BRAINERD — Fresh off an ideal season, followers of the Brainerd Warriors will get loads of probabilities to catch their favourite swimming and diving group in motion this 12 months.

Last 12 months’s 10-0 group, which gained the Central Lakes Conference and Section 8-2A titles, hosts six house duals, a regular-season invite, the Section 8-2A True Team meet and the Section 8-2A prelims and finals.

There are loads of causes to need to catch this group in motion, with three state and 6 all-conference returners.

Senior Avery Duerr superior to state within the 100 breaststroke and positioned eighth. She was a member of two state relays. She was all-conference within the breaststroke and was on two all-conference relays. She helped Brainerd’s 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays to part wins and positioned second within the part breaststroke in 1:05.06.

“Avery takes her sport very seriously,” stated Brainerd head coach and final 12 months’s Section 8-2A Coach of the Year Dan Anderson. “She’s always working on her technique and staying after and working on things. She looks really good. All four of her strokes look good. We’re only in Week Two, but she’s already showing signs of speed and her breaststroke looks smooth.”

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

Duerr simply missed state within the 200 particular person medley with a third-place 2:12.57. Anderson has ideas of placing her within the 200 freestyle a few occasions simply to see.

Isabelle Ploof was all-conference within the 50 and 100 freestyles in addition to the medley relay. In the part meet, she completed second within the 50 and 100 freestyles to advance to state. The solely individual to beat her was former teammate and state champion Mya Tautges. She additionally helped Brainerd’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays to state, the place Brainerd positioned second within the 200 and sixth within the 400. Ploof completed sixteenth within the 50 free and thirteenth within the 100 free at state.

“She looks great,” Anderson stated. “She really hasn’t missed a beat. She’s as strong as ever. She’s swimming very fast in practice so far. She’s a very driven girl and had great success last year. I’m expecting she’ll do just fine this year.”

Also on these state relays was junior Aralyn Marcelo, who earned all-conference honors within the 500 freestyle, which she gained, and as a member of the first-place 200 and 400 relays. Marcelo positioned fourth within the 200 freestyle at sections and was fifth within the 500 free. There’s a thought she would possibly drop to 100 and 200 freestyles this 12 months.

“She’s got really good speed, so we’re thinking she might go that direction,” Anderson stated. “The 100 could be a really good race for her. We might even try some backstroke with her.”

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

If Marcelo drops to the sprints, sophomore Allie Reilley appeared able to dealing with the space front-runner duties. She was seventh within the 500 at 5:35.2 and twelfth within the 200 at 2:06.51 within the part meet.

“She had a great summer and was there pretty much every day,” Anderson stated. “She looks really good, especially this early in the season when we’re just doing a lot of long-distance swims. That’s right up her alley, so she’s looking really good in practice.”

Anderson stated he’s getting have a look at a really wholesome Kaia Iske, who’s now two years faraway from knee surgical procedure. The junior was all-conference final 12 months as a member of the 200 medley and she or he’ll deal with the butterfly, the place she completed sixth within the part meet with a 1:02.53. She was additionally ninth within the 200 freestyle.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

“We joke every day that she’s back,” Anderson stated. “She looks great. She had a really good summer of training. She looks like her old self. Her knee is not giving her any trouble at all. I’m excited to see what she’ll do in that butterfly this year. Also, that 200 free. She’s looking really good.”

Freshman phenoms Lily Larson and Emme Murray return. Last 12 months, Larson was all-conference within the butterfly, whereas Murray was a member of the all-conference 200 and 400 freestyle relays. At the part meet, Murray was seventh within the backstroke and twelfth within the butterfly behind Iske and fifth-place Larson, who swam a 1:02.53. Larson added a tenth within the 200 particular person medley.

“Emme is one of those kids who needs a rest at the end of the season for her body to recover,” Anderson stated. “She had a really good part meet for us. She confirmed some actual pace within the 50 free within the medley relay. She would possibly slide into the 50 free behind Isabelle and possibly keep within the backstroke.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

“Lily, she just gets after it. She has a lot of confidence. Watching her and Kaia over in lane eight this morning, training some butterfly, they both look really good. I know she’s also put in a lot of time on her breaststroke this summer to improve her IM, so we’re excited about that.”

Another returning freshman who scored factors for Brainerd is Ellery Duerr, who swims the identical occasions as her older sister. The Warriors may have 23 student-athletes who’re sophomores or youthful on the roster. There are 14 varsity newcomers on a group of 33 athletes.

One of Brainerd’s prime returning sophomores is diver Corrina Rabasco, who moonlights as a fairly good swimmer, too. Rabasco was ninth within the part diving competitors with 301.55 factors. She additionally positioned sixteenth within the backstroke. She earned all-conference honorable point out in diving, which is a self-discipline the place Brainerd can be sturdy this 12 months. Also returning to the board are juniors Eva Dircks, Elaina Geary and senior Giada Lundgren.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

“Corrina really made big strides in diving last year,” Anderson stated. “This summer, Corrina would come to the school in the morning to lift weights. Then she would swim with us and then dive. Pretty much her whole morning is full. She’s balancing both, which is hard, but she’s looking good in the pool and when I glance over, she’s looking good on the diving board.

“All of the divers have really come so far in three years. Most of them were brand new three years ago. Mary (Clifford) has quite a crew.”

Seniors Gabriella Bratney and Ella McCulley will look to attain extra factors this season.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

“Gabriella will be doing the breaststroke for us,” Anderson stated. “She was in the weight room for us all summer long. She was in the pool all summer long, too. Ella was coming off a shoulder injury. We altered her training quite a bit just to keep her shoulder good. She swam a lot this summer and it really hasn’t bothered her. She knows how to manage it. Once we start to put a little more work into it, I’m excited.”

New this season is the absence of Sartell and Sauk Rapids from the Section 8-2A lineup. Alexandria strikes in to place the part at eight groups, with Brainerd nonetheless one of many prime contenders to win its third title in 4 years.

Kelly Humphrey

Head coach: Dan Anderson, fortieth season (thirty third in Brainerd)

Brainerd report: 246-61

Record at Rock Springs, Wyo.: 66-31-1

Career report: 312-92-1 (.770%)

2024 end: 8-0 CLC, 10-0 total, 1st in Section 8-2A

Returning state entrants: Avery Duerr, Isabelle Ploof, Aralyn Marcelo

Manager: Addison Guida

Assistant coaches: Ann Stenglein (thirty second season), Mary Clifford, diving (twenty seventh season), Kris Peterson (volunteer, thirteenth 12 months), Chandler Niemeyer (volunteer diving coach, 2nd 12 months)

Tuesday, Aug. 26: vs. Bemidji 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 28: vs. Sartell 6 p.m.

Sept. 4: vs. Fergus Falls 6 p.m.

Sept. 9: at Detroit Lakes 6 p.m.

Sept. 11: vs. St. Cloud Apollo 6 p.m.

Sept. 18: at Willmar 6 p.m.

Sept. 25: at St. Cloud Tech 6 p.m.

Sept. 27: Warrior Invite 10 a.m.

Oct. 2: vs. Alexandria 6 p.m.

Oct. 9: at Sauk Rapids 6 p.m.

Oct. 11: Section 8-2A True Team 10 a.m.

Oct. 14: vs. Rocori 6 p.m.

Oct. 24: In Central Lakes Conference prelims at St. Cloud Tech 3 p.m.

Oct. 25: In Central Lakes Conference finals at St. Cloud Tech 1 p.m.

Nov. 7: In Section 8-2A Prelims at Brainerd 4:30 p.m.

No. 8: In Section 8-2A Finals at Brainerd 10 a.m.

Seniors: Gabriella Bratney, Avery Duerr, Giada Lundgren, Isabelle Ploof, Ella McCulley

Juniors: Eva Dircks, Elaina Geary, Kaia Iske, Aralyn Marcelo, Emilia VanHorn

Sophomores: Renee Coonan, Natalie Derhaag, Emily Hardy, Elise Henderson, Madeline Klukas, Corrina Rabasco, Allie Reilley, Abigail Tisdell, Lydia Thiesse, Keziah Yenter

Freshmen: Anilyse Bundy, Ellery Duerr, Lily Larson, Allison Moore, Emme Murray, Norah Ostrowski

Eighth-graders: Blair Ahlquist, Maelle Iske, Nora Nelson, Rory Peterson, Leah Ploof, Kailey Wenz

Seventh-grader: Luella Guida