Todd Fritze knew the Park Rapids girls swimming and diving team had to hit on all cylinders in order to win the Mid-State Conference title Friday night at the Area High School pool.
The Panthers got off to a good start, but not even 24 season-best efforts were enough to top the four-team field.
Perham captured its first conference title with 408 points to edge Detroit Lakes' 403 total. Park Rapids tallied 368 points to settle for third place for the second year in a row.
Kyja Penning started off the meet by placing second in diving with a lifetime best of 365.30 points for 11 dives to earn all-conference honorable mention honors. Heather Kniss (206.35) and Jessica Andersen (204.85) also had lifetime bests in finishing eighth and ninth. Detroit Lakes' Shayna Dugger took first with 376.00 points to break her conference record of 351.75 points set last year.
The Panthers opened the swimming events with a pair of season-best times in the 200-yard medley relay. Taylor Ondracek, Mandy Schirmers, Penning and Allycia Zinke clocked a runner-up 2:01.79 to earn all-conference honorable mention honors while Katherine Erickson, Alexa Zunich-Andersen, Abby Hanson and Melissa Haas took fourth in 2:09.96.
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Emily Creager (third in 2:11.00), Hannah Williams (eighth in 2:18.61) and Taylor Graham (ninth in 2:35.51) clocked lifetime bests in the 200 freestyle. Creager earned all-conference honorable mention honors for placing third.
Jessica Andersen (3:06.99) clocked a lifetime best in the 200 individual medley. Detroit Lakes' Melissa Paakh won the 200 individual medley in 2:16.39 to break her conference record of 2:17.88 set last year.
Zinke (fourth in 28.10) and Ondracek (fifth in 28.39) led the Panthers in the 50 freestyle while Ellen Hoffman (32.12) and Alex Pederson (32.63) had lifetime bests.
Paakh won the 100 butterfly with a 58.93 to break her pool record of 59.44 set last year. Penning clocked a runner-up 1:04.56 for another all-conference honorable mention effort while Hanson (1:17.21) and Nicole Knott (1:23.56) had season-best times.
After the 100 butterfly, Detroit Lakes had 215 points while Perham (183) and Park Rapids (170) trailed.
Creager's lifetime best of 1:00.08 and Zinke's season best of 1:00.89 gave the Panthers a 4-5 finish in the 100 freestyle. Graham (1:08.07) and Kniss (1:08.44) added lifetime bests.
Meinert took fourth in the 500 freestyle with a 6:03.28 while Erickson (seventh in 6:09.70) and Williams (ninth in 6:20.47) clocked lifetime bests.
Park Rapids earned its only all-conference honors in the 200 freestyle relay as Penning, Ondracek, Creager and Meinert teamed for a winning time of 1:49.76. That time was a season best.
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The Panthers had two all-conference honorable mention swimmers in the 100 backstroke as Ondracek clocked a season best of 1:07.65 for second place and Erickson followed with a lifetime best of 1:08.85 for third place. Pederson also had a lifetime best of 1:23.05 in that event.
Perham took the lead for good after the 100 breaststroke. With one event to go, Perham had 362 points, Detroit Lakes had 349 points and Park Rapids had 326 points. Haas had a season-best 1:21.36 for the Panthers in the 100 breaststroke.
Meinert, Creager, Erickson and Zinke ended the meet by placing third in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:05.37 to receive all-conference honorable mention status.
"We've had a great year so far. I think we're turning the corner to where we want to be, but we still want to be better," said Fritze. "We didn't swim bad. We just got beat by two better teams."
Park Rapids will now prepare for the Section 8A meet Nov. 14-15 at Detroit Lakes.
Team scores: Perham 408, Detroit Lakes 403, Park Rapids 368, Staples-Motley 140.
Individual results
200 medley relay: 1, Detroit Lakes, 2:01.36. 2, Park Rapids (Ondracek, Schirmers, Penning, Zinke), 2:01.79. 3, Perham, 2:03.93. 4, Park Rapids (K. Erickson, Zunich-Andersen, Hanson, Haas), 209.96.
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200 freestyle: 1, Larson, DL, 2:09.28. 2, Raaf, DL, 2:10.39. 3, Creager, PR, 2:11.00. 7, Meinert, PR, 2:17.84. 8, Williams, PR, 2:18.61 9, Graham, PR, 2:35.51.
200 individual medley: 1, Paakh, DL, 2:16.39 (conference record; old record: 2:17.88 by Paakh in 2007). 2, Beachy, SM, 2:33.65. 3, K. Kratzke, P, 2:33.73. 4, Schirmers, PR, 2:36.40. 5, Haas, PR, 2:38.35 11, Hanson, PR, 2:46.47. 13, Andersen, PR, 3:06.99.
50 freestyle: 1, Weiss, DL, 27.04. 2, Richter, P, 27.31. 3, Formanek, P, 28.09. 4, Zinke, PR, 28.10. 5, Ondracek, PR, 28.39. 12, Hoffman, PR, 32.12. 13, Pederson, PR, 32.63.
Diving: 1, Dugger, DL, 376.00 points (conference record; old record: 351.75 by Dugger in 2007). 2, Penning, PR, 365.30. 3, Kobriger, DL, 307.15. 8, Kniss, PR, 206.35. 9, Andersen, PR, 204.85.
100 butterfly: 1, Paakh, DL, 58.93. 2, Penning, PR, 1:04.56. 3, A. Kratzke, P, 1:07.52. 7, Zunich-Andersen, PR, 1:14.61. 8, Hanson, PR, 1:17.21. 11, Knott, PR, 1:23.56.
100 freestyle: 1, Richter, P, 58.24. 2, Spies, DL, 58.44. 3, Weiss, DL, 59.47. 4, Creager, PR, 1:00.08. 5, Zinke, PR, 1:00.89. 10, Graham, PR, 1:08.07. 12, Kniss, PR, 1:08.44.
500 freestyle: 1, Larson, DL, 5:43.00. 2, Rothmeyer, P, 5:47.38. 3, Carlson, P, 5:57.75. 4, Meinert, PR, 6:03.28. 7, K. Erickson, PR, 6:09.70. 9, Williams, PR, 6:20.47. 12, S. Erickson, PR, 7:09.87.
200 freestyle relay: 1, Park Rapids (Penning, Ondracek, Creager, Meinert), 1:49.76. 2, Perham, 1:50.13. 3, Detroit Lakes, 1:50.34. 4, Park Rapids (Schirmers, Zunich-Andersen, Haas, Williams), 1:53.84.
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100 backstroke: 1, Spies, DL, 1:06.83. 2, Ondracek, PR, 1:07.65. 3, K. Erickson, PR, 1:08.85. 10, Knott, PR, 1:19.69. 11, Pederson, PR, 1:23.05.
100 breaststroke: 1, K. Kratzke, P, 1:14.68. 2, Beachy, SM, 1:16.61. 3, Raaf, DL, 1:16.99. 4, Schirmers, PR, 1:17.61. 7, Haas, PR, 1:21.36. 8, Zunich-Andersen, PR, 1:22.05. 12, Mackley, PR, 1:33.58.
400 freestyle relay: 1, Detroit Lakes, 3:58.27. 2, Perham, 4:04.47. 3, Park Rapids (Meinert, Creager, K. Erickson, Zinke), 4:05.37. 6, Park Rapids (Williams, Kniss, Knott, Hanson), 4:31.71.
