Teams: Dassel-Cokato, Delano, Hutchinson, Litchfield, Marshall, Montevideo, Mound Westonka-Holy Family, Orono, Watertown-Mayer, Willmar
- 2023 Section Champion: Orono – 502 pts
- 2023 Section Runner-up: Delano – 496 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Lila James (Orono) – 50 Free (8th Sections), 100 Free (9th Sections)
- Haley Holzschuh (Orono) – 100 Back (5th Sections)
- Hannah Wadholm (Delano) – 50 Free (3rd Sections), 100 Free (2nd Sections/14th State)
- Catherine Dueck (MWHF) – 200 IM (1st Sections/1st State), 100 Breast (2nd Sections/1st State)
- Madilyn Gehrke (Hutchinson) – 100 Free (1st Sections/2nd State), 100 Breast (1st Sections/3rd State)
- Cate Brogen (Willmar) – 500 Free (5th Sections)
- Aubrey Schueler (Willmar) – 50 Free (1st Sections/13th State), 100 Fly (3rd Sections/11th State)
- Kylie Portiin (Willmar) – Diving (7th Sections)
- Ellie Brown (Litchfield) – 50 Free (7th Sections)
- Adeline Lundin (Litchfield) – 50 Free (9th Sections), 100 Back (3rd Sections)
- Emily Peterson (Litchfield) – 100 Breast (8th Sections)
Team Outlook
This section looks to be a two-team race, but a close one, as always. Neither Orono nor Delano lost much to graduation. Orono will be led by junior Graycin Andreen, who returns at section champion in the 200 Free and 100 Fly. Andreen was also state champion in the 200 Free and placed 3rd in the 100 Fly at state. Seniors Elle Davis, Mallory Knutson and Reilly Anderson are also top 8 state finishers that return for the Spartans. Davis placed 5th and 3rd in the 50 Free and 100 Free at sections and placed 15th and 8th in those events at the state meet. Knutson was section runner-up in both the 200 IM and 500 Free and placed 6th and 16th for those events a week later at state. Anderson was section runner-up in the 100 Back and placed 5th at the state meet. Junior Lola Schottler returns as section champion in the 500 free and placed 5th in the 200 Free. She placed in both events at state, finishing 11th in the 200 and 9th in the 500. Junior Sofie Dyvik placed 7th in the 200 Free and 8th in the 100 and will be looking to qualify for her first state meet in 2024. Freshman Sophie Berg placed 5th in sections in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 Fly, just a hair off the state qualifying times and should be a factor in those events this year. Freshman Ainsley Francis returns after placing 6th in the 500 Free in 2023. Eighth grader Audrey Crawford will look to build on a stellar rookie season where she placed 8th in the 200 Free and 6th in the 100 Free. On the boards, senior Eliza Hansen placed 6th and junior Miley Lewin placed 8th in sections.
Delano will be led by senior Josie Strobl who was section runner up in the 200 Free and 100 Fly. At the state meet, Strobl placed 7th and 5th in those events. Fellow Senior Bella Kern qualified for the state meet in the 100 Breast with a 5th place finish and finished 6th in the 100 Fly at the section meet. Kern placed 11th in the 100 Breast at state. Senior Norah Seguin is back to defend her section championship in the 100 Back. Seguin also placed 8th in the 200 IM. Seguin finished 7th in the Back at state. Senior Abby Gierke placed 4th in the 200 Free and 5th in the 100 Fly at the section meet in 2023, qualifying for state in both events. Another Senior, Lydia Jostock, placed 6th in the 100 Breast in 2023. Junior Kaia Georges was runner up in both the 50 Free and 100 Free in 2023 and placed 9th in the 50 Free at state. Sophomore Kennedy Menz made a splash last year by placing 4th in the 50 Free and 100 Back. Freshman Emma Ristau also had a nice impact, placing 6th in the 50 Free and 5th in the 200 Free. Ristau scored a 15th place finish at the state meet in the 100 Free. Delano divers junior Mylie Pinoniemi and senior Amelia Nelson finished 2nd and 3rd at sections with Pinoniemi placing 13th at state.
Other Notables
Mound Westonka-Holy Family will have a strong core with senior Annemarie Johnson leading the way. Johnson placed 3rd in both the 200 Free and 500 Free at sections and scored 9th and 6th place finishes in those events at state. Senior Grace Warden placed 7th in the 100 Free at sections while senior Onna Sullivan placed 8th in the 100 Back. Junior Erica Johnson returns as section champ in diving. She placed 11th the following week at the state meet. Sophomore Laney Hendrickson was a 7th place finisher in the 500 Free in 2023 and was just outside the top 8 in the 200 Free at sections. Sophomore Jaylen Juras was the 7th place finisher in the 100 Fly in 2023 and will continue to battle a tough field in that event this season.
A trio of top scoring seniors will be at the core for Hutchinson in 2023. Isabelle Schwartz placed 3rd in the 200 IM and 100 Breast at sections. At the state meet, she placed 9th and 7th in her events. Sydney Redmann placed 7th in the 100 Back in 2023 and teammate Kelsey Gillman placed 8th in the 500 Free. Junior diver Aubree Schwanz placed 5th last year and will be in the mix with the section’s top divers trying to get one of the top 4 spots and a ticket to the state meet.
The Willmar Cardinals will be doing some rebuilding this season after graduating the majority of their individual section points. Senior Kaylee Hurley placed 12th in the 100 Fly last season and fellow senior Aly Johnson scored a top 16 finish in the 100 Back. Freshman Marin Wallestad placed 16th in the 200 IM and 13th in the 100 back. These three will be looking to lead the way in 2024.
Marshall junior “swiver” Autumn Deutz placed 10th in the 50 Free and 9th in diving in 2023. Eighth grader Finely Pelz had a great rookie meet in 2023, placing 7th in the 200 Free and 4th in the 500 Free.
Litchfield, like Willmar, is graduating most of their 2023 individual scorers from the section meet and we look to rebuild. They have a solid group of young swimmers who will look to crack the top 16 in 2024.
Dassel-Cokato will be led by junior Megan Westling. Westling finished 15th in diving last year.
Watertown-Mayer has been steadily building over the past couple years with depth and improvement in their top line. Sophomore Sophia Danielson placed 16th in the 100 Free and 17th in 50 Free in 2023.
Montevideo junior Elizabeth O’Malley also took on the “swiver” role last year. She placed 4th in diving at sections and 10th in the 100 Breast. O’Malley placed 16th at the state meet in diving.