The Cook County Community YMCA 13-14 boys celebrate their 1st place finish at the Minnesota State Championship Meet at the Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis on Valentine’s Day. (L-R) Will Surbaugh, Henry DeArruda-Weaver, Tanner DeBoer, Ole Sorenson.
Hearts were pounding on Valentine’s Day as 12 Cook County swimmers competed at the Minnesota State Championship meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. Over 1,000 swimmers from 19 teams attended the meet and competed to earn points and the chance to be named State Champions.
Individuals and relay teams score points by placing in the top 16. A first place finish earns the team 20 points; 2nd place, 17 points; 3rd place, 16 and so forth. Points are tallied at the end of the meet and a team winner is announced.
The Northerns finished 11th place overall.
Champions are also named in each age group and this year the Cook County 13- to 14-year-old boys scored the most points in their age group and were named State Champions in that category. Athletes contributing points to secure the win were Ole Sorenson, Henry DeArruda-Weaver, Tanner DeBoer and Will Surbaugh.
Sorenson placed 4th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.87 and qualified for Regionals in this event. Sorenson qualified for regionals in the 50-yard freestyle as well and placed 4th in this event at state with a time of 27.39. He placed 3rd in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:27.31.
DeArruda-Weaver placed 5th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:24.36. He also placed 5th in the 200-yard IM with a time of 3:00.39.
DeBoer placed 10th in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 3:21.61. He also placed 7th in the 200-yard IM with a time of 3:17.85. DeBoer placed 10th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:54.94.
Surbaugh placed 12th in the 100-yard IM with a time of 1:23.01. He placed 11th overall in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 28.98.He placed 4th in the 100- yard breaststroke with a time of 1:24.00
For the girls, Ella Hedstrom placed 11th in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 40.54. She will be advancing on to the regional swim meet in this event in March.
Aurora Schelmeske placed 8th in the 100-yard IM with a time of 1:17.00. She also placed 16th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 29.95.
Chloe Blackburn placed 14th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:57.84
The girls in the 11-12 400- yard freestyle relay were Ella Hedstrom, Livi Nesgoda-Works, and Duluth swimmers Natalya Kilsdonk and Camille Wikstrom. They finished 11th with a time of 5:14.55
In the girls 11-12 200-yard medley relay were Liv and Ella Hedstrom from Grand Marais and Elle Westrum and Josie Fay of Duluth. They placed 10th overall with a time of 2:29.92 and the medley relay with Grand Marais swimmer Nesgoda-Works placed 15th with a time of 2:46.09.
Swimming in the boys 13-14 400-yard freestyle relay were DeBoer, Sorenson and Duluth swimmers Dylan Manchester and Travis Elling placing 3rd with a time of 5:03.50
The boys 13-14 200-yard freestyle relay team was Surbaugh, DeArruda Weaver, and Duluth swimmers Ezra Schomberg, and Beau Giddings who placed 2nd with a time of 1:57.02. This same group of boys swam the 200-yard medley relay together and placed 4th with a time of 2:16.30.
Tristan Surbaugh swam the backstroke leg of the boys’ 9-10 200-yard medley and along with three Duluth swimmers placed 7th in this event with a time of 3:16.09.
Ole Sorenson and Ella Hedstrom will continue to practice through mid-March and will represent Cook County at the Regional Swim Meet on March 19-20 at the University of Minnesota.
Thousands of swimmers from 11 nearby states will compete for regional titles. Sorenson will swim the individual 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle and will join three teammates from Duluth to swim relays. The boys’ relay team has one of the top seed times for the 200 and 400 yard medley relays with Sorenson swimming the freestyle leg, and a chance of scoring highly in the 200-and 400-yard freestyle relays.
Hedstrom may join with some Duluth swimmers as well to participate in relays and she will swim the individual 50-yard breaststroke.
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