Wildcat Aquatics Club swimmers place at YMCA Wisconsin-Upper Peninsula state meet
Emmett Krueger
BROWN DEER, Wis. — Eight swimmers from the Wildcat Aquatics Club of Marquette all had top-20 finishes, some in the top five, at the Wisconsin-Upper Peninsula YMCA State Championships held March 19-21 at the Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in the northern Milwaukee suburb of Brown Deer, Wisconsin.
It was a challenging year for the Marquette County swimmers as the team hasn’t been able to procure pool time for team practices since October, meaning swimmers had to find practice time and space during open swim hours to prepare for the meet.
Other swimmers at the meet from around the U.P. and Wisconsin had more traditional training available. In addition, the meet was held in a compressed format in an effort to increase safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here are their results:
• Emmett Krueger swam in the 8-and-under age group, placing in every event he entered. He finished third in the 50-yard breaststroke, missing victory by just over a half-second. He was also fifth in the 25 backstroke and 25 breast and sixth in the 25 freestyle and 100 free.
Henrik Larsen
• Three swimmers swam in the 11-12 age group.
Like Krueger, Henrik Larsen placed in each event he entered, coming in fifth in the 100 butterfly, sixth in the 50 fly and 200 free, seventh in the 100 free and ninth in the 50 free. His 100 free was his first time breaking one minute.
Olive Krueger was seventh in the 200 individual medley and 12th in the 200 free.
Kamryn LaVigne came in right behind Krueger, placing eighth in the 200 IM and 13th in the 200.
• Three more swimmers were in the 13-14 age group.
Olive Krueger
Grace Sobczak, coming off a strong performance for Marquette Senior High School at the MHSAA U.P. Finals, swam personal bests in both the 1,650 free in fifth and the 400 IM for sixth. She was also eighth in the 500 free and 13th in the 200 free.
Paige Davis was 17th in the 200 IM and 23rd in the 100 free, the latter with her first time breaking the one-minute mark.
Maija Talvensaari set personal bests in every event she swam, her top finish being 26th in the 100 breast.
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- Emmett Krueger
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- Henrik Larsen
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- Olive Krueger
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- Kamryn LaVigne
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- Grace Sobczak
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- Paige Davis
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- Maija Talvensaari
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- Lexi LaCombe
Like Sobczak, she came off a strong MHSAA U.P. Finals meet with Marquette Senior High School, finishing seventh in the both the 400 IM and 500 free.
Kamryn LaVigne
After graduating this spring from MSHS, she plans to attend St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, and continue swimming with the Green Knights team.
Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
Grace Sobczak
Paige Davis
Maija Talvensaari
Lexi LaCombe