The Hastings Girls Swim and Dive team capped off their most successful postseason in recent memory with a standout performance at the Section 4A Championships, held this past week at John Glenn Middle School. The Raiders finished third overall in team scoring with 300 points, the program’s highest placement in several years.
The meet was packed with highlights, headlined by record-breaking performances and multiple state qualifiers. Hastings will send a strong group to the state meet, including divers Chloe Aarness, Greta Larson, and Kira Fuechtmann, as well as swimmers Sofia Kovalenko, Emma Dehmlow, and a 400-yard freestyle relay team that’s been heating up at just the right time.
Leading the charge was junior Chloe Aarness, who dominated the diving competition. Aarness not only won the event, but she also shattered the meet record with a score of 473.40, putting her firmly in the state title conversation. Teammates Greta Larson and Kira Fuechtmann also punched their tickets to state with third and fourth place finishes, respectively. Mari Hall added a sixth-place finish to round out a dominant showing on the board.
Larson, who also swam on the medley and freestyle relays, made history as well. According to head coach Katie McAlpin, she is the first Hastings athlete ever to qualify for the state meet in both swimming and diving.
In the pool, Sofia Kovalenko and Emma Dehmlow continued their strong seasons. Kovalenko took third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:11.33) and third in the 100-yard butterfly (58.63), qualifying for state in both. Dehmlow grabbed sixth in the 200 IM (2:14.97) and fifth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.84), earning her own two-event trip to state.
The Raiders also qualified in the 400 free relay, finishing fourth overall with a time of 3:43.73. The quartet of Dehmlow, Larson, Lila Salzman, and Kovalenko dropped nearly 12 seconds from their prelim swim to close out the meet in style. Hastings also placed fourth in both the 200-medley relay and 200 free relay, continuing their relay success throughout the meet.
Salzman added a fourth-place finish in the 100 free (55.66) and sixth in the 50 free (25.41), contributing valuable points in sprint events.
In all, Hastings had 95 percent of its swimmers drop time from prelims to finals, a stat McAlpin praised as a reflection of the team’s preparation and mindset.
“This is the best we’ve looked at sections in years,” McAlpin said. “The girls showed up ready, swam smart, and left it all in the pool.”
The state swim meet is held Nov. 13 to 15, 2025. All Class A events take place at noon at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Diving prelims are on Thursday, swimming prelims Friday, and swimming and diving finals on Saturday.