Do NOT stand still, you may get run over!

The Big 9 Preview

This Saturday, the ten Big 9 teams gather in Mankato to see who owns South/South East MN. Big 9 is a one day, timed final meet, so the heats will feature the conference varsity swimmers progressing up the varsity ranks to the fastest swimmers all in the final heat or two. Expect some jockeying where some swimmers from the second to the last heat end up in a final 8 position. Scoring is through 16th place, so the middle swimmers help a lot in keeping pace or distancing their team from the pack.

Team by Team, here are some of the names to be watching for:

Century

Lexi Shin, Freestyle; Erica Perkins, IM; Nina Tabatabai, IM; Christina Drexler, Breaststroke, Fly;

Rochester JM

Allison Schumacher Free, Fly; Taylor Emery, Freestyle; Taylor Bass, IM, Backstroke;  Madison Emery, Freestyle Distance;  Lauren Kalwasinski (10th in 100 back)

Rochester Mayo

Lauren Ulsh IM, & Breast; MichelleCampeau, Freestyle; Kallyn Barkey, Freestyle Distance ; Alex Miller, IM & Breaststroke; Hannah Baratz Freestyle Sprint; Olivia Cook, Fly, Back;

Albert Lea

Lindsey Horejsi is am IM and Breaststroker, Galen Schulz Freestyle, Morgan Field, Breaststroke, Karli Kriewall diving,

Winona

MacKenzie Brosnahan Freestyle Sprinter, Alexandra Zuelke Im & Breast , Reese Galewski Butterfly, Crystal Franzawa, Diving Haley O’Neill Freestyle

Faribault

Cecilia Hake Back & Freestyle, Dani Behrens Freestyle,

Owatonna

Elise O’Neill, Freestyle; Kianna Lier, Diving; Lindsey Price, Freestyle & Back;

Mankato West

Danielle Nack Freestyle,  Nicole Lohman, Freestyle Sprint, Madison Bacon IM & Back, Chantal Nack Distance & IM,

Austin

Helen Heimark Freestyle, Distance, Mikayla Finney Freestyle,

Mankato East

Chandra Bouma, Maren Peterson, Abby Connell

Look for a really fast meet. You have the three Rochester Schools competing but their kids come from two different club programs and split into the three different schools. There is a odd, rivalry/symmetry going on that really cranks up the competition. Throw in Mankato West’s Class A ranking and looking to prove something and the meet could get really FAST.

The diving will be competing on Friday in its entirety, so we wont get to watch it, but the points will be known at the start of the meet.

Saturday, 1PM at the Minnesota State University Mankato Natatorium. I would get there early, seating will be tight AND hot, so wear lite clothing!  

Final Big 9 Standings

Big Nine Standings		Overall			Big 9
Teams	W	L	T	W	L	T
Rochester John Marshall	9	0	0	9	0	0
Rochester Mayo	8	1	0	8	1	0
Mankato West	7	2	0	6	2	0
Rochester Century	6	5	0	6	3	0
Owatonna	4	5	0	4	4	0
Albert Lea	5	5	0	4	5	0
Winona H.S.	4	5	0	3	5	0
Austin High School	2	9	0	2	8	0
Faribault	2	7	0	1	7	0
Mankato East/Loyola	1	9	0	0	8	0