2025 Girls High School Preview: Section 4A

Section 4A

Teams in the Section
Cretin-Derham Hall, Hastings, Hill-Murray, Mahtomedi, Math and Science Academy, Mounds Park Academy, Simley, South St. Paul/Minnehaha/Cristo Rey, St. Paul Como Park, St. Paul Humboldt/Washington/OWL, Visitation

2024 Section Champion: Visitation – 525 pts
2024 Section Runner-up: Mahtomedi – 374 pts

Notable Graduates

• Maggie Farley (Visitation) – 50 Freestyle (2nd Sections/2nd State), 100 Butterfly (1st Sections/1st State)
• Katie Miller (Visitation) – 200 Freestyle (1st Sections/2nd State), 500 Freestyle (1st Sections/1st State)
• Lucia Lazarus (Visitation) – 50 Freestyle (9th Sections), 100 Butterfly (6th Sections)
• Madeline Byrne (Visitation) – 200 Freestyle (4th Sections/13th State), 100 Freestyle (3rd Sections/12th State)
• Sidney Leciejewski (Mahtomedi) – 200 Freestyle (8th Sections), 100 Freestyle (7th Sections)
• Audrey Carlson (Mahtomedi) – 100 Breaststroke (3rd Sections/12th State)
• Eden Kelly (Cretin-Derham Hall) – 200 IM (9th Sections), 100 Breaststroke (8th Sections)
• Emma Donnelly (Cretin-Derham Hall) – 1m Diving (2nd Sections)
• Maeve Johnston (Cretin-Derham Hall) – 200 IM (4th Sections), 100 Backstroke (5th Sections/16th State)
• Sara Lindner (Cretin-Derham Hall) – 50 Freestyle (3rd Sections/7th State), 100 Freestyle (2nd Sections/11th State)
• Anna Sewich (Cretin-Derham Hall) – 100 Butterfly (7th Sections), 100 Back (12th Sections)
• Cecilia Mayer (Mounds Park Academy St Croix) – 500 Freestyle (8th Sections), 100 Back (11th Sections)
• Giulia Moggia (Mounds Park Academy St Croix) – 200 Freestyle (9th Sections), 100 Freestyle (8th Sections)
• Leah Kahley (Hill-Murray) – 100 Butterfly (8th Sections), 100 Backstroke (14th Sections)
• Maggie Haigh (South St Paul-Minnehaha-Cristo) – 1m Diving (6th Sections)
• Kira Aarness (Hastings) – 200 IM (2^nd Sections), 100 Free (4^th Sections)
• Josey Larson (Hastings) – 100 Fly (4^th Sections), 100 Back (6^th Sections)
• Izzy Green (Hastings) – 100 Fly (5th Sections), 500 Free (7^th Sections)

Section Outlook

Visitation returns one of the most complete squads in the section. Junior Reeve Wolf placed 6th in the 200 Free and 2nd in the 500 Free (15th at state). Sophomore Maddie Mullen placed 7th in the 200 Free and 3rd in the 100 Butterfly (10th at state). Junior Merry Miller was a star in both the 200 IM (2nd/7th State) and 100 Breast (1st/3rd State). Junior Anna Cierzan added a 5th in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 100 Back (5th at state), while sophomore Ava Decker placed 12th in the IM and 4th in the Breaststroke. Senior Mollee Ditzler placed 6th in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 Butterfly (15th at state). Sophomore Madalyn Hornung was 16th in the 50 Free and 5th in the 500 Free. Junior Olivia Schletz contributed with 9th in the 100 Free and 8th in the 100 Back. Sophomore Maribel Plessner was 5th in diving, with sophomore Sama Johnson placing 7th. Senior Lauren Kahley added a 3rd-place dive finish.

Mahtomedi boasts a deep returning roster. Junior Abigail Wright leads the way after finishing 2nd in the 200 Freestyle and 1st in the 100 Free, earning 3rd and 4th at state, respectively. Junior Delaney Dumermuth showed sprint strength with 4th in both the 50 and 100 Free, also placing 16th at state in the 50. Freshman Adalyn Miller impressed with a 7th-place finish in the 50 Free and 5th in the 100 Free. Eighth grader Aria Armstrong finished 8th in the 200 IM and 4th in the 500 Free. Sophomore Riley Parizek also scored in distance with 7th in the 500 Free and 10th in the 100 Back. On the boards, sophomore Shaela Murphy was dominant, winning the 1m Diving.

Mounds Park Academy St Croix returns a core of high-level scorers. Junior Josie MacDonald placed 3rd in the 200 Free and 4th in the 100 Backstroke, qualifying 16th at state. Junior Julia Anderson was a standout in both the 200 IM (3rd/13th State) and 100 Butterfly (2nd/5th State). Junior Isabella Muyres added a 5th in the 100 Fly and 2nd in the 100 Breaststroke, finishing 8th at state. Seniors Alexa Jones and Alaina Biebl made significant contributions—Biebl winning both the 200 IM (2nd at state) and 100 Back (1st at state), while Jones added 5th in the 100 Breast and 13th in the 50 Free.

Cretin-Derham Hall returns junior Cora Moore, who placed 5th in the 200 Freestyle and 3rd in the 500 Free. Senior Ellen Kovats posted a pair of strong swims with a 5th-place finish in the 50 Free and 6th in the 100 Free. Senior Josie Johnson added scoring with an 8th-place finish in the 50 Free and 9th in the 100 Backstroke. Senior Lauren O’Donnell contributed on the boards with a 4th-place finish in diving.

Hill-Murray brings back junior Talia Simons, who placed 7th in both the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke. Sophomore Alexis Roehrich was 11th in the 200 IM and improved to 6th in the 500 Free. Senior Lucy Metz posted a pair of 6th-place finishes in the 50 Free and 100 Breaststroke. Junior Wendy Ritter added to the diving total with an 8th-place finish.

Simley brings back sophomore Lauren Oswald and freshman Mia Doolittle. Oswald finished 10th in the 200 Free and 7th in the 100 Back, while Doolittle placed 11th in the 200 Free and 6th in the 100 Back.

St Paul Como Park features senior Aleia Lueck, who delivered standout performances in both sprints and backstroke—winning the 50 Free and placing 2nd in the 100 Back, finishing 4th and 6th at state, respectively.

Hastings drops in from 3AA and will surely make this section even more competitive this season.  They bring back a well-rounded and talented group of returners. Leading the way is sophomore Sofia Kovalenko, who placed 5th in the 200 Freestyle and added a strong 3rd-place finish in the 100 Butterfly. Sophomore Lila Salzman made her mark in the sprints, finishing 4th in the 50 Freestyle and 8th in the 100 Free. Freshman Emma Dehmlow impressed in both the 200 IM (4th) and 100 Backstroke (2nd). Fellow freshman Maddy Ritter also contributed in the IM, placing 8th, and added a 4th-place finish in the 100 Breaststroke. On the diving board, sophomore Chloe Aarness earned 2nd place at sections and a 7^th place finish at the state meet, while fellow sophomore Mari Hall scored 7th, giving Hastings solid depth in the event.