HJ Sports Blog

By Stephen Wiblemo
Sports Editor
It will have been about three weeks since their last varsity meet, but Thursday, Nov. 12, 19 members of the Dassel-Cokato swimming and diving team will travel to Willmar for the preliminary rounds of the Section 3A tournament.
It’s been an exciting season, with lots of individual and team improvements, and all of that has culminated into this final week at sections. Proof that the Chargers have made improvements this year is in the fact that they will be bringing seven more competitors than last year, and for eight of the girls, this will be their first trip to the section meet.
Kimberly  Moy, Mariah Quincy, Robin Rokala, Sarah Kivisto, Noel Niemela, Kerry Erickson, Carli Kirchoff, and Caitlin Latt are all first-year section competitors for DC. Out of DC’s 12 competitors last year, only four of them were first-year section qualifiers
According to DC head coach Erin Tormanen, this jump in first-year qualifiers can largely be attributed to the skill and determination of this younger group coming up.
“I have never seen so many first year athletes so determined to make it on the varsity lineup,” he said. “Earning a spot on the varsity lineup, lettering, and qualifying for sections is not just for the more experienced girls anymore. With some natural ability, and a lot of hard work, these girls have realized that they can go a long way in this sport.”
Out of those eight section rookies, three of them are divers. Although these divers didn’t technically qualify on their own, a section rule says that in events where teams have no, or a limited number of, qualifiers, they are able to bring up three free entries.
Tormanen decided to use those free entries to bring divers  Latt, Kivisto, and Erickson.
“I decided to take these girls because they have competed at a level that was equivalent to some of the divers they will be competing against at the section meet,” he said.
Along with these eight section rookies, 11 veterans will be coming along to anchor the squad. Among them is senior Mary Ylitalo, who comes in with the most experience. She is the only DC qualifier returning for her fifth section meet.
When asked if she had any advice for girls going into their first section meet, she said, “No matter what happens, try to make the most of it. And, even if you have a bad meet, you have to try and bounce back. Just have fun, and swim your hardest.”
This is excellent advice from the five-time veteran, who has experienced ups and downs at the section meet.
Last season, Ylitalo was hoping to qualify for the Class A state meet in the 100-yard breaststroke, and as a member of the 200-yard medley relay team. Unfortunately, she did not beat the state cut time in her individual event, and the relay team was disqualified.
In her final section meet, Ylitalo’s personal goals are clear.
“I want to go state,” she said.
This year, she won’t be racing in any relay events, but she will be swimming the 100 breaststroke again, along with the 200-yard individual medley.
Hher best shot at state is in the breaststroke. Her seed time going into sections is 1:14.52, and the cut time is 1:12.21. She will have to shave off over two seconds from her best time to make state.
Ylitalo isn’t the only one with her eyes on state.
Junior Larinda Norgren, and sophomore Victoria Tormanen, both return for the fourth trip to sections, and are looking for their first trip to state.
Both girls come in with section seeding times that beat the state cut times in their particular individual events. Norgren is looking to qualify in the 50-yard freestyle, and Tormanen is looking to qualify in the breaststroke.
Although they have already eclipsed the state cut time this year, that doesn’t mean they are guaranteed to do it again.
“I am going to have to work hard on my taper, and work on everything.” Norgren said.
Both girls are also teaming up as part of the 200 medley relay team that would also like to break into state. That team, which also consists of Brooke Danielson and Kristen Haider,  has a seed time less than two seconds from the state cut of 1:57.38.
Taking that much time off isn’t impossible, but it won’t be easy.
“I think we are all going to have to swim as fast as we all have before,” Victoria Tormanen said. “And, hopefully, we aren’t disqualified like last year.”
“I think if everyone pulls together, and has their best times, we’ll get it,” Norgren said.
Norgren, Haider, and Danielson will also be on the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams, along with senior Kelsey Nagel.
Who is put on the relay teams is a completely unbiased decision that is simply made by which four girls have the fastest split times over the season.
The 200 freestyle relay team also stands a chance at state, as its seed time is a little more than two seconds over the cut.
For Danielson and Nagel, this will be just their second trip to sections, but they will have a lot more pressure on them, being part of these relay teams contending for state berths.
“It’s nice to have that first (section trip) out of the way, but it is a little more nerve racking (this time) because I am in three relays,” Danielson said. “There is a little more weight on my shoulders, but I’m excited.”
Hanna Keskey, Megan Nyquist, Sara Hughes, Elizabeth Kaiser, and Janna Van Overmeer are the other veterans coming in with one or more years of experience at the section meet.
While a state berth might not be in the cards for all of them, this year, they are coming into sections with their own personal goals.
For seniors Nyquist and Keskey, those goals are just to be swimming Saturday in the section finals.
“I want to try and make it to finals, and put everything in there, since this is my last year,” Keskey said.
“I haven’t gone to a final individually, so that is my main goal,” Nyquist said. “I really want to make it to finals in the 100 butterfly.”
No matter what their goals are, the key to achieving them will be the training they have put in over these past three weeks before sections.
“If we have done our jobs correctly, the girls will peak at the section meet,” Erin Tormanen said. “Up to this point, we have designed our workouts to increase conditioning, while improving specific skills.”
While practices during the regular season are rigorous, and draining, they change during this part of the season. The girls start working on all the finer details, which they hope will help them cut the few seconds of time they need.
“All the little, fine details, that you don’t focus on during the regular season,” Ylitalo said about what they work on. “The start, your head position. your arm position. All that  little stuff can add up.”
The girls also work on visualization, and a process called tapering.
“We have now entered the taper phase of our training. The taper is designed to allow the whole body to recover by gradually reducing the yards swam in each practice, and suspending strength training. We also increase the intensity of the yards swam, and the amount of rest between each swim. This will get the body accustom to performing at a higher level, while at the same time, training the body to recover faster.
“The most difficult component of the taper is convincing the swimmers that they will feel better, and they will swim fast. Ninety percent of a successful swim at sections will depend on the swimmer’s mental attitude. I have seen many well trained swimmers fail in the post season because they doubted their training. Because of this, we also spend a lot of time on the mental side, using techniques such as visualization. They visualize their race, focusing on what the perfect race looks like. The goal for the taper is to deliver a strong, well conditioned, well rested, confident athlete to the starting block at the section meet.”
The tapering is almost finished, and come Thursday, it will be out of the hands of coach Tormanen, and left to the athletes. They have been trained well, they know what they must do, but only time will tell if they reach their goals.
“This is the most exciting time in this sport,” Erin Tormanen said. “Every year we are amazed at how these girls perform. As coaches, we are extremely excited for the upcoming section meet. Our girls are in great shape, and the taper is going very well. With several girls already under the state cut times, this will be a very exciting meet.”
Charger JV win WCC championship
MOUND – The Dassel-Cokato junior varsity swimming and diving squad competed in the Wright Country Conference Tournament Oct. 31,. Although they didn’t claim and first-place spots in events, they were able to power themselves to a first-place team showing, winning the whole thing with a score of 711.
Waconia took second with 619.5 points, and Mound-Westonka was third with 523.5 points.
The key to DC’s victory was pretty cut-and-dry, according to DC head coach Erin Tormanen.
“We won by sheer numbers,” he said. “We have one of the largest, if not the largest, teams in the conference.”
Numbers certainly had something to do with it. DC had more participants in every event, which meant they were able to capture more points than any other team. But, it wasn’t just numbers, as the girls also captured several top places in each events, meaning they also had some skill to boot.
“Not only have we seen an increase in participants, but also in the quality of athletes,” Tormanen said.“Generally speaking, this year’s first-year swimmers and divers are more focused, and have a greater level of enthusiasm toward being successful in this sport, then any of the previous years I have coached.”
While much of this boost in skill and enthusiasm should be contributed to the individuals themselves, Tormanen also believes DC’s summer program this year, which was the first in many years, helped tremendously.
“A good portion of this can be contributed to the summer club that started last summer,” he said. “A good feeder program is essential to not only maintain, but also build, any sports program.”
Some of DC’s top individual finishes were Carli Kirchoff’s third-place showing in the 200-yard freestyle, Samaya Braatz’s seventh-place showing in the 50 freestyle, Kerry Erickson’s sixth-place score in diving, Noel Niemela’s fourth-place time in the 100-yard freestyle, Sara Hughes’ second-place time in the 500-yard freestyle, and Emalie Johnson’s third-place time in the 100 backstroke.
Out of those top individuals, Kirchoff, Niemela and Hughes each qualified for sections with their times.
Those girls weren’t the only ones with great swims, as DC had 22 individuals place in the top 10 of different events.
Relay teams did will, too, as the 200 medley team of Kaiser, Moy, Quincy, and Rokala took third, the 200 freestyle team of Braatz, Kaiser, Serina Rossow, and Rokala were fifth, and the 400 freestyle team of Braatz, Katie Miller, Quincy, and Kirchoff were fifth.
“Our girls swam incredibly well at the WCC JV championship,” Tormanen said. “We had over 90 time drops with several girls qualifying for the varsity section tournament. Based on this year’s performance from our younger swimmers and divers, the future for the DC swimming and diving program looks very bright.”

Sat., Oct. 31
Wright County JV Conference meet
Teams – 1. Dassel-Cokato 711, 2. Waconia 619.5, 3. Mound-Westonka 523.5, 4. Litchfield 519.5, 5. Orono 409, 6. Watertown-Mayer/Delano 319.5, 7. Holy Family 39
200 medley relay (20) – 1. Litchfield (Greta Walsh, Anika Ellingson, Alyssa Raiber, Charissa Wedin) 2:09.11; 3. DC (Elizabeth Kaiser, Kim Moy, Mariah Quincy, Robin Rokala) 2:13.68; 11. DC (Grace Zobel, Kristina Tormanen, Serina Rossow, Sarah Kivisto) 2:26.27; 20. DC (Erin Aho, Emelia Powers, Rebecca Moy, Cara Morris) 2:47.69
200 freestyle (17) – 1. Montana Linsmeier (Litch) 2:17.26, 3. Carli Kirchoff 2:22.86, 6. Allison Baatz 2:29.78, 7. Katie Miller 2:31.61, 10. Abbie Pettit 2:35.4, 15. Lauren Sherbet 2:39.56, 16. Bella Schaefer 2:59.63
200 individual medley (17) – 1. Grace Polusny (MW) 2:40.44, 15. Taylor Baumann 2:57.51, 16. Kim Moy 3:01.92
50 freestyle (90) – 1. Allie Gardner (Orono) 27.75, 7. Samaya Braatz 29.34, 8. Noel Niemela 29.6, 11. Zobel 29.96, 20. Kallie Evans 30.27, 22. Kivisto 30.58, 27. Kailee Byrd 31.08, 31. Jillian Keskey 31.48, 37. Katrina Impola 32.45, 40. Cady 32.67, 44. Emalie Johnson 33.07, 52. Caitlin Latt 33.69, 53. Emly Ertl 33.83, 55. Morgan Erickson 34.1, 56. Alaina Craswell 34.12, 59. Alina Morris 34.46, 62. Camber Gross 34.72, 67. Aho 35.77, 68. Rebecca moy 36.06, 71. Morris 36.6, 75. Meghan Johnson 36.84, 80. Amy Weiss 37.16, 82. Mercedes Lemke 38.14, 84. Alexis Kotila 38.71, 85. Kianna Goldsberry 39.04, 86. Markita Tormanen 39.17, 88. Christina Babb 41.9, 90. Brooke Halonen 50.7
Diving (15) – 1. Morgan Reinhart (MW) 130.6, 6. Kerry Erickson 109.45, 7. Latt 105.35, 9. Kivisto 102.05, 11. Ella Wuollet 96.65, 14. Cara Morris 84.25
100 butterfly (13) – 1. Paige Beyer (MW) 1:15.78, 8. Kim Moy 1:21.51, 11. Serina Rossow 1:25.00, 13. Katie Miller 1:27.55
100 freestyle (63) – 1. Allie Gardner (Orono) 59.67, 4. Niemela 1:03.59, 7. Robin Rokala 1:05.24, 8. Kaiser 1:05.3, 13. Braatz 1:06.4, 17. Quincy 1:08.35, 18. Evans 1:08.38, 27. Byrd 1:10.45, 28. Kristina Tormanen 1:10.93, 31. Keskey 1:11.33, 32. Kylene Hanson 1:12.0, 33. Cady 1:12.03, 46. Ertl 1:20.0, 47. Gross 1:20.88, 50. Weiss 1:21.78, 51. Meghan Johnson 1:22.29, 55. Powers 1:22.63, 56. Wuollet 1:23.14, 61. Markita Tormanen 1:25.01, 62. Lemke 1:27.75
500 freestyle (17) – 1. Maddie Kileen (Orono) 6:26.11, 2. Sara Hughes 6:38.58, 7. Pettit 6:52.05, 12. Baumann 7:01.54, 13. Deborah Rokala 7:02.72, Sherbet 7:12.73, 17. Schaefer 8:13.67
200 freestyle relay (24) – 1. Litchfield (Charissa Wedin, Erica Staton, Alyssa Raiber, Montana Linsmeier) 1:55.38; 5. DC (Braatz, Kaiser, Rossow, Robin Rokala) 2:00.22; 10. DC (Kirchoff, Keskey, Cady, Miller) 2:06.04; 13. DC (Byrd, Morris, Gross, Impola) 2:11.98; 21. DC (Morris, Latt, Lemke, Ertl) 2:27.23, 22. DC (Wuollet, Powers, Aho, Markita Tormanen) 2:28.75; 24. DC (Halonen, Goldsberry, Meghan Johnson, Kotila) 2:46.22
100 backstroke (20) – 1. Greta Walsh (Litch) 1:13.41, 3. Emalie Johnson 1:17.88, 4. Jorgenson 1:18.42, 6. Zobel 1:22.48, 7. Hanson 1:23.91, 8. Deb Rokala 1:24.35, 11. Morgan Erickson 1:25.27, 12. Baatz 1:25.55, 13. Kerry Erickson 1:27.18, 17. Aho 1:36.9
100 breaststroke (29) – 1. Carley Betsch (Orono) 1:18.41, 8. Kirchoff 1:26.32, 9. Impola 1:27.08, 14. Hughes 1:29.36, 18. Kotila 1:32.98, 20. Kristina Tormanen 1:34.46, 21. Morris 1:35.34, 22. Craswell 1:36.39, 26. Powers 1:40.81, 27. Goldsberry 1:46.44, 29. Babb 2:19.3
400 freestyle relay (18) – 1. Mound-Westonka (Hannah Daly, Lexi Christopolus, Whitney Trelstad, Emily Minzel) 4:18.04; 5. DC (Braatz, Miller, Quincy, Kirchoff) 4:28.93; 8. DC (Evans, Deb Rokala, Zobel, Hanson) 4:37.31; 9. DC (Robin Rokala, Kaiser, Baatz, Kim Moy) 4:40.52; 11. DC (Niemela, Pettit, Jorgenson, Goldsberry) 5:05.52; 15. DC (Gross, Baumann, Weiss, Emalie Johnson) 5:19.06; 17. DC (Latt, Kerry Erickson, Schaefer, Markita Tormanen) 5:29.33