Teams in the Section
Fergus Falls, Detroit Lakes, Park Rapids, Morris/Minnewaska, Perham/New York Mills, Fosston Bagley, Thief River Falls, BGMR / Roseau / Warroad
2025 Section Champion — Fergus Falls 519
2025 Section Runner-up — Detroit Lakes Lakers 417
Notable Graduates
- Estee VerSteeg (Fergus Falls) – 200 Free (1st Sections / 15th State), 100 Free (2nd Sections
- Ace Api (Fergus Falls) – 100 Fly (2nd Sections), 100 Back (5th Sections)
- Hannah Fear (Fergus Falls) – 100 Back (1st Sections), 100 Fly (7th Sections)
- Rylee Kubela (Fergus Falls) – 50 Free (3rd Sections), 100 Free (5th Sections)
- Marian Martin (Detroit Lakes) – 200 IM (3rd Sections), 100 Breast (4th Sections)
- Emily Peterson (Detroit Lakes) – 100 Free (6th Sections), 100 Back (4th Sections)
- Maria Green (Fosston Bagley) – 100 Back (3rd Sections), 200 IM (8th Sections)
- Lyla Stadtherr (Morris/Minnewaska) – 100 Breast (1st Sections / 3rd State), 50 Free (2nd Sections / 14th State
- Clare Barnstuble (Morris/Minnewaska) – 1m Diving (2nd Sections)
- Ella Roering (Morris/Minnewaska) – 1m Diving (5th Sections)
- Mesa Kittelson (Morris/Minnewaska) – 100 Fly (3rd Sections)
- Taylor Ziemke (Perham/New York Mills) – 50 Free (4th Sections), 100 Fly (4th Sections)
This is a heavy graduating class, and it falls hardest on the two contenders. Fergus Falls loses Estee VerSteeg, its 200/100 Free anchor, plus Api, Fear, and Kubela. Morris/Minnewaska loses both of its top divers and its lone individual champion in Stadtherr. Several Park Rapids athletes had no grade printed in the section results, so those returners are noted below without a class year.
Section Outlook
Fergus Falls loses a lot to graduation, but the cupboard is far from bare, and the champions remain the team to beat. Evelyn VerSteeg (junior) is the headliner returner, having gone 2nd in the 200 IM and 5th in the 100 Fly at sections. Olivia Jensen (senior) brings distance-free firepower, winning the 500 Free outright and taking 2nd in the 200 Free. Ashtynn Koep (sophomore) scored in both freestyles (5th 200 Free, 7th 100 Free), and Alexis Thoma (senior) added top-8 swims in the 200 IM and 100 Fly. The young middle-distance group is real: Marissa Thoma (sophomore) was 6th in the 500 and 2nd in the 100 Back, Maeve Cox (junior) placed 5th in the 500, and Ella Kwapinski (sophomore) was 7th in the 50 Free, 2nd in the 100 Breast, and grabbed 16th at state in the breaststroke. Shelby Christ (sophomore) rounds out the IM depth at 7th. On the boards, sophomore Xiomara Jacobson returns after a 3rd place finish in 2025. With this many returning point-scorers across freestyle, IM, breast, and back, Fergus Falls is still my read as the favorite — though the lost senior firepower means the margin won’t be 100 points again.
Detroit Lakes return the section’s single biggest star and are built to close the gap. Grace Hamm (sophomore) won both the 200 IM and the 100 Fly at sections and backed it up with 11th at state in the fly — a genuine podium threat at the section level in 2026. Around her, the Lakers have real depth. Taylor Sunde (freshman) and Brooklynn Anderson (freshman) both scored in the 200 and 500 Free as eighth-graders-turned-freshmen, a distance core that only gets better. Adelyn Hamar (senior) doubled up (6th 200 IM, 5th 100 Breast), Evelyn Martin (junior) was 8th in the 100 Back, and Sophia Karlgaard (sophomore) took 6th in the 50 Free. The diving program is a hidden weapon: Izabella Goodrich (senior, 6th), plus Stella Eckman and Emma Qualley (both freshmen, 7th and 8th) give Detroit Lakes three returning top-8 divers. If anyone runs down Fergus Falls, it’s this group.
Park Rapids is sprint-led and genuinely dangerous up top. The program brings back the section’s best sprinter in Avery Schueller (senior), who swept the 50 and 100 Free at sections and was elite at state — 3rd in the 50 and 5th in the 100. She is the most accomplished returning swimmer in 8A. Whitney Seifert (senior) is a strong sprint complement (5th 50 Free, 3rd 100 Free). Beyond the sprinters, Park Rapids has scoring returners in Molly Cederstrom (4th 200 Free, 2nd 500 Free), Julia Grande (6th 200 Free, 8th 500 Free), Cassidy Grewe (4th 200 IM, 6th 100 Back), Lauren Hirt (3rd 100 Breast), and Abbie Randall (7th 100 Back), plus divers Karlee Rowland (1st) and Grace Officer (4th). With Schueller leading and points spread through every discipline, Park Rapids has the pieces to push for runner-up.
Morris/Minnewaska are rebuilding around youth after losing their top end. The Gators graduate their champion (Stadtherr) and both top divers, so this is a step back at the very top. But there’s a youthful nucleus to build on. Sydney Gibson (sophomore) was 6th in the 100 Fly, and Adelyn Ferrian (sophomore) returns from a top-8 diving finish. The Gators were a clear fourth in 2025 scoring and will lean on developing swimmers to hold that spot.
Perham/New York Mills has distance and depth to lean on. Perham loses Ziemke, its top sprinter and flyer, but keeps a useful spread of scorers. Kadence Matzke (sophomore) was 4th in the 500 Free, Elise Janke (sophomore) scored 4th in the 100 Free, and Madison Kratzke (junior) added an 8th in the 100 Breast. It’s a roster without a single dominant star but with enough returning point-scorers to stay in the middle of the section.
Fosston Bagley Seals are anchored by versatility but thin behind it. The Seals lose Maria Green, their most decorated scorer. The returning group is led by depth swimmers rather than a headliner, and Fosston will be building back toward its 2025 sixth-place finish. Expect the program to lean on its relay legs and develop younger swimmers into the scoring spots Green vacates.
Thief River Falls is relay-driven, with a few individual scorers returning. Thief River Falls had a quietly solid relay presence (3rd in the 400 Free Relay at sections) and returns a handful of individual scorers: Faith Hartmann (senior) was 8th in the 200 Free, Elise Schneider (senior) 8th in the 50 Free, Natalia Zoller (junior) 8th in the 100 Free, and Cora VanBuren (sophomore) 7th in the 100 Breast. That’s a foundation of returning point-scorers spread across sprint and stroke events to build the season around.
BGMR / Roseau / Warroad are building from the relays up. The co-op didn’t land an individual top-8 finish in 2025 but qualified relays into the championship heats across the meet. With no top-end scorers graduating or returning to headline, the program’s path forward runs through its relay groups and the development of its younger swimmers into individual scoring range.