JOURNAL Sports

Raiders Swim and Dive CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS!

By Bruce Karnick

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Heading into the final conference dual meet against Tartan on Thursday, the Raiders knew they could clinch the conference title with a win.

“I like to mix things up, force the girls to be great all-around swimmers,” said Head Coach Katie McAlpin after the win.

McAlpin spends hours before a meet looking at seeding times and putting together a lineup that pits similar swimmers against each other. This forces the athletes to perform their best knowing there is a chance to lose if they do not.

“As we got closer to the end of the Tartan meet, I had a moment of being nervous. Tartan is a scrappy squad and they came in to the meet ready to go, they really pushed the girls to the end,” added McAlpin.

She wasn’t worried about losing the conference title, but the point margin was not quite where she expected it to be. By the end of the meet, Hastings won, 100-86. Sunshyne Lewis earned the coaches ‘swimmer of the meet’ award by posting two season best times including a fifth place Varsity finish in the 100 breaststroke. Kira Aarness earned diver of the meet with her lifetime best score and third place finish with only three days practice this week.

After the emotional Conference Championship win, Hastings participated in a True Team meet. True Team meets are set up similar to the section meets where multiple teams compete over the course of two days. Day one is diving and day two is swimming. Hastings finished fourth overall at True Team against Park, Eagan, Burnsville, East Ridge, Rosemount, Eastview.

True Team gives coaches the opportunity to fine tune the section roster and start the fo – cused training for sections and state. The Raiders finished in the top half of every event with several event finishes in the top 4-6 range. Hastings did win one event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Ashtyn Stewart, Kendal Jenkins, Ireland Zaruba and Kira Aarness beat the second-place team by 1.5 seconds.

Up next for the Raiders in the JV Conference Meet on October 29. Also, team pictures will be held at the October 26 practice.

Kira Aarness finished strong for the Raiders in the 400-yard freestyle relay at Oltman Middle School on Saturday for the True Team meet. Photo by Bruce Karnick