Teams: Bemidji, Brainerd, Buffalo, Elk River, Moorhead, Rogers, Sartell St- Stephen, Sauk Rapids-Rice, St. Michael-Albertville
- 2022 Section Champion: Brainerd – 373 pts
- 2022 Section Runner-up: Sartell-St. Stephen – 350 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Izzy Olson (Brainerd) – Diving (1st Sections/3rd State)
- Evie Helsene (Brainerd) – Diving (3rd Sections/13th State)
- Brenna Deason (Brainerd) – Diving (4th Sections/ 15th State)
- Emma Yao (Sartell-St. Stephen) – 100 Fly (5th Sections), 100 Breast (2nd Sections/8th State)
- Hailey Westrup (Sartell-0St. Stephen) – Diving (2nd Sections/7th State)
- Abbie Oshaug (Moorhead) – 100 Free (2nd Sections), 100 Breast (3rd Sections/11th State)
- Sydney Olson (Moorhead) – 100 Fly (6th Sections), 100 Back (6th Sections)
- Ava Rodgers (Moorhead) – 200 IM (4th Sections), 100 Back (4th Sections)
- Kaylie Carik (Buffalo)- 100 Fly (8th Sections), 100 Back (5th Sections)
- Hayley Crosland (Buffalo) – 200 Free (3rd Sections), 500 Free (2nd Sections)
- Brianna Shroyer (Buffalo) – 200 IM (2nd Sections/7th State), 100 Breast (1st Sections/4th State)
- Gracyn Schmitz (Elk River) – 200 Free (7th Sections), 500 Free (5th Sections)
- McKenzie Osowski (Rogers) – 50 Free (7th Sections)
- Samantha Sylvester (Rogers) – 100 Fly (2nd Sections), 100 Back (3rd Sections)
- Kaytlin Bittman (Sauk Rapids-Rice) – 200 IM (7th Sections 5A), 100 Breast (6th Sections 5A)
- Liberty Kosloski (Sauk Rapids-Rice) – Diving (3rd Section 5A)
Team Outlook
New to Section *AA is Sauk Rapids-Rice, who moves up a class and into the sections. They placed third as a team in 2022 in a very competitive section 5A. It should be a very competitive section this year. For all the details of the section realignments, you can visit our previous article.
Brainerd is the reigning Section 8AA champions, wining the meet by 23 points over Sartell St. Stephen in 2022. While not graduating too many points on the swimming side, they will be losing 64 points from diving alone. Brainerd had the first, third, fourth and sixth divers in the sections in 2022 and that will be a challenge to replace in a single year. Returning will be senior Autumn Larson who placed fourth in the 100 Fly and seventh in the 500 Free in 2022. Joining Larson will be Junior Mya Tautges, who placed second in the 50 Free and fifth in the 100 Free last season, and a pair of sophomores, Isabelle Ploof Avery Duerr. Ploof finished fourth in the 50 Free and sixth in the 100 Free while Duerr was sixth in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 Breast. All three finishers in the 100 Breast will have graduated, opening a great opportunity for a section championship for her. Duerr placed 14th at the state meet in the 100 Breast.
Sartell- St. Stephen also loses some points in diving with section runner up Hailey Westrup graduating. In the big pool, they remain loaded with a very tough senior class. Madeline Francois was section champion in the 50 Free in 2022 and placed fourth in the 100 Free. At the state meet, Francois placed fifth in the 50 Free. Fellow senior Megann Jobin was fifth in the 200 Free and sixth in the 200 Free and should move up some spots this year. Another senior, Holly Lenarz, returns as section champion in the 500 Free and was third in the 200 IM. She went on to place third at the state meet in the 500 Fee and eighth in the 200 IM. Rounding out the quartet of seniors is lily Larson. Larson was sixth in the 50 Free and eighth in the 100 Free a year ago.
Other Notables
Moorhead sophomore Adrianna Hoff will look to continue to build off her impressive freshman season. Hoff was section champion in both the 200 Free and 100 Free and placed eighth in the 200 Free and ninth in the 100 Free at the state meet. Joining Hoff as a top point scorer is senior Alayna Janke. Janke placed second behind Hoff in the 200 Free at sections and was section champion in the 100 Fly. At the state meet, she finished eleventh in the 200 Free and seventh in the 100 Fly.
Buffalo graduates a lot of points from last season and will rely on their younger swimmers and divers to take the next step in 2023. Leading the way will be sophomore Adalee Anderson who placed eighth last season in the 200 Free and fifth in the 500 Free at the section meet.
St. Michael-Albertville will be led by junior Lily Van Heel who was section and state champion in the 100 back. She was also section champion in the 200 IM at sections and third at the state meet in that event. Sophomore Addison Thompson-Klimpke will also be a top point scorer for St. Michael-Albertville. She placed fourth in the 200 Free and third in the 500 Free at the section meet in 2022.
Elk River senior Gabby Odegard will continue to be a force in the section. In 2022, Odegard placed second in the 100 Back and third in the 100 Free. She went on to place ninth at the state meet in the 100 Back.
Rogers graduated a lot of points with a bigger senior class from last year. As they look to reload, strong recruiting and young swimmers taking the next step will be key. Senior Sophia Mahnke returns after placing thirteenth in diving in 2022.
Bemidji does not graduate any point from 2022 and will be led by junior Ryan Gaskins. Gaskins placed sixteenth in the 200 Free and ninth in the 500 Free. Look for this group of athletes to start making an impact in the section in 2023.
Sauk Rapids-Rice moves up from class A but should be able to hold their own in their new section. Junior Vivian Tangen placed third in the 50 Free and second in the 100 Free at sections last season. She should be able to push to be in the top four in both this year. Sophomore Ally Lucas placed eighth in the 200 Free and fifth in the 100 Back and should be solidly in the top eight in 8AA in those events in 2023.