Sports
St. Michael-Albertville Swimmers Head to State
Two St. Michael-Albertville High School swimmers and one diver will make their Class AA debut beginning today at the University of Minnesota. The Knights, as a team, finished second overall at last weekend's Section 8AA meet.
Krista Erickson and Kasey Roberts will be making return trips to the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, while junior Katie Schmitz will be making her first.
Yet, for all three St. Michael-Albertville swimmers, this weekend will be an entirely new experience, as this year's crop of girls establishes the Knights' first ever appearance in Class AA swimming.
"In that sense, it's kind of cool to represent STMA and to let people know we're here," Roberts, a sophmore, said. "We're not really known for swimming."
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Coach Tom Guillou's team sure has tried to make some waves in its first Class AA season. The Knights, shockingly, were unbeaten in dual action until a conference-ending matchup with Buffalo, even knocking off perennial power Monticello.
Then, at last week's Section 8AA meet, STMA knocked off the Bison when they stormed back on the second day to move from fifth to second place at St. Cloud Tech.
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"Really, our goal was to finish second at the section meet, but that was a stretch goal. So we really accomplished so much, as a team, this year. The girls put in the work," Guillou said. "Really, we thought, 'Second would be huge.' And they put it together and pulled it off."
Roberts led the charge, taking Section 8AA titles in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. Schmitz meanwhile, was seeded eighth after the preliminary swim and broke out with a huge victory in the 200-yard freestyle.
Erickson, meanwhile, did what she does in the deep end, as the junior has her third trip to a state meet and finished fourth.
"She made it into the top 10 last year as a sophomore, and we'd love to see her in the top group as a junior. But this is Class AA, so the difficulty, across the board, is going to be more," Guillou said.
That's actually motivating the Knights' swimmers.
"We know we can make a giant step now," Schmitz said. "The times are much tougher, but we're here. Anything can happen. So the ultimate would be to just keep dropping time, and hopefully in the end you place."
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