Four Lakeland swimmers state bound

With state on the line, the Lakeland girls’ swim team delivered one of their best meets of the year, advancing four to state in four different events.

Kasey Wise swims the butterfly stroke of the 200 medley relay in a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet Saturday, Nov. 9 at Menomonie High School. Lakeland finished third and qualified for state in the 200 medley relay.
(Photo by Bob Mainhardt for the River News)

The Thunderbirds finished sixth out of 14 teams with 174 points at a WIAA Division 2 sectional meet Saturday in Menomonie. Lakeland had more points than Colby/Abbotsford (144.5 points), a team that finished third in the Great Northern Conference. Olivia Mickle, Avalon Collins, Daryn Smolinski and Kasey Wise qualified for state based on individual time.

“We had a great sectional meet with a lot of good swims,” coach Tierney Edwards said. “The girls showed up and had fun. I am very pleased with their swims and the outcome of the meet. Out of the Great Northern Conference we only had two teams, Rhinelander and Medford, outscoring us. Considering we took fourth at the conference meet and tied for fourth overall in conference standings, this was a big win for the girls.”

There are four sectionals in the state. The winner in each event is the automatic qualifier for state, and then the next 12 fastest times amongst all sectionals make the top 16.

For the first time since 2020, the Thunderbirds qualified a relay team to state. The 200 medley relay team punched their ticket to state in the first event of the meet. Mickle (backstroke), Smolinski (breaststroke), Wise (butterfly) and Collins (freestyle) each swam their part to a time of 1:57.37. They beat their seed time by four-plus seconds.

“Starting off the meet with a huge time drop and a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay was the perfect way to start the meet,” Edwards said. “The girls went from a season-best time of a 2:02.13 to 1:57.37. They went from being seeded seventh to third. I think it hyped the girls up and gave them the confidence to start the meet.”

Mickle was the only Lakeland swimmer to make it to state in a non-relay event. She did so twice.

First, Mickle finished second out of 21 swimmers in the 200 IM. She touched the wall in 2:11.85, breaking her own school record she set at last year’s state meet. Rhinelander’s Celia Francis came in first at 2:09.25.

“I was impressed with Olivia’s 200 IM. She swam her race really well,” Edwards said. “Olivia was able to really come back strong at the end of each 50. She picked up momentum as the race went on. This is a lifetime-best time for Olivia and a new school record.”

Later, Mickle finished third out of 33 swimmers in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.12, beating her seed time of 1:01.60. 

“Olivia had a nice backstroke,” Edwards said. “Last year at state she went a 1:00.11, and she went a 1:00.12 at sectionals. So she is swimming well, and I was happy with her third-place swim.”

The fourth and final event that Lakeland qualified for state in was the 400 freestyle relay. The Thunderbirds ended up third, advancing based on time yet again. Mickle, Smolinski, Wise and Collins swam a time of 3:53.66. They beat their seed time by seven-plus seconds. 

“Everyone went under a minute. Kasey, Avalon, and Daryn have been working hard all season to reach that milestone,” Edwards said. “Olivia had a great lead-off swim, and the other girls were able to keep the lead up until the last five yards. Even though they were just out-touched for second place, they swam hard and raced well. This was a personal-best time for this relay.”

Mickle made it to state in four different events.

There were plenty of other highlight swims from Lakeland on events that didn’t make it to state. Smolinski placed fourth out of 22 swimmers in the 100 breaststroke at 1:14.44. The state-qualifying standard was 1:11.83.

“Daryn had a great 100 breaststroke,” Edwards said. “She came out of nowhere in lane one, seeded seventh and ended up taking fourth. The tempo of her stroke and good pull-outs were the key to her race.”

Smolinski finished sixth out of 22 swimmers in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:57.37, beating her seed time of 6:01.32.

“Daryn had a good swim and achieved her season goal of going under 6:00,” Edwards said. “She was able to swim her race and paced herself well. Her turns could have been a little better, but she swam a great race that she, and I, were proud of.”

Collins finished eighth out of 42 swimmers in the 100 freestyle with a time of 59.70, dropping almost two seconds from her seed time.

Callie Baker touched the wall in 2:22.31 for 14th place out of 29 swimmers in the 200 freestyle. She beat her seed time by eight-plus seconds.

Alicia Kroening also swam in the 200 freestyle. She placed 24th with a time of 2:30.38, bettering her seed time of 2:33.89.

A trio of Thunderbirds swam in the 50 freestyle. Haidyn Pfannerstill finished 19th (28.52), Molly Jorgensen 26th (29.42) and Rachel McMahon 29th (29.57). Jorgensen and McMahon beat their seed times for personal bests. A total of 44 swimmers participated in the event.

In the 100 butterfly, Wise took ninth out of 24 swimmers with a time of 1:09.12. Another Thunderbird bettered their seed time. Wise did so by over a second.

Pfannerstill finished 19th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:04.35.

“I spoke with the girls about what they wanted to swim, what they thought their best races were, and what I thought their best races were,” Edwards said. “Ultimately we came up with their events together. I wanted the girls to have buy-in and confidence in their races, but I also wanted them to be realistic about what their best races were for the team. I think we made the right decision on most of them.”

Kroening beat her seed time by over 13 seconds in the 500 freestyle. She placed 15th with a time of 6:33.22.

“Alicia had been battling a knee injury for the last five weeks, so to be able to come and swim and get two personal bests was a great finish to her season,” Edwards said. “She had a fantastic swim in the 500. She was able to get into a really nice rhythm and hold a great pace.”

Lakeland finished 10th out of 14 teams in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:56.42. McMahon, Jorgensen, Baker and Pfannerstill beat their seed time by four-plus seconds.

“Callie also had a great meet,” Edwards said. “She came away with three personal-best swims — her 200 free where she dropped eight seconds, her 100 back where she dropped two seconds and her 50 relay split where she was able to get under 30 seconds.”

Outside of Mickle, three other Thunderbirds swam in the 100 backstroke. Collins touched the wall in 1:09.62 for 12th place, a personal best, Wise placed 14th with a time of 1:10.20 and Baker 22nd at 1:15.53.

Jorgensen placed 15th in the 100 breaststroke at 1:24.31.

Up next, the Thunderbirds swim in the Girls Fall Swimming and Diving Championship Friday, Nov. 15 at 5:30 p.m. at the Waukesha South Natatorium.

Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].