Midgets Swim and Dive team finishes fifth at State
Nov. 17—FARGO — The Dickinson High School Swim and Dive Team finished fifth out of 18 teams at the Girls State Swimming and Diving Championships at Hulbert Aquatic Center on Nov. 11 and 12 in Fargo.
"It's the highest they have ever placed at State and as the team would collectively say, we slayed," DHS Swim and Dive Coach Jenna Wolf said.
DHS had a total of six swim qualifiers, two qualified divers and three relay swimmers. All six qualified swimmers reached the finals. The competition yielded several time cuts and new personal records for the Midgets.
The team put up a total of 163.50 points, and four girls made the Top 8 in the A Finals in their events: Charley Rathgeber, Aryana Twist, Taylor Miller, and Mara Ellerkamp. In the B Finals, Ericka Williams and Molly Ellerkamp made the Top 16 on day one of the meet. Breanna Jo Wolbaum made it to the finals for the first time in her athletic career and finished in the top 20 for diving.
"It was a new level of competition for all of the teams there, as there were only two returning State Champions at the meet," Wolf said. "It was fun to see new State Champions produced."
The biggest victory for the Midgets was their second place finish in the 200 yard freestyle relay with the team consisting of Miller, Twist, Mara Ellerkamp and Rathgeber. The girls topped their 2019 record of 1:43.07 with a 1:41.35 and hit the wall just one second short of the first place team, Century High School.
"We were strong in our freestyle events with that group of four girls...they were happy with how they swam and broke a new team record in the 200 free relay," Wolf said. "It was fun for them especially with the letdown of last season of their relay getting DQ'd, so it was a little bit of redemption."
In the 400 yard freestyle relay, the same group of girls placed fourth out of 16 teams with a time of 3:43.23. Miller also took a solo fourth place finish in the 500 yard freestyle.
"I know a lot of the girls from the other swim teams, so it felt like a big family," Rathgeber said. "Everyone was nice to each other and cheered each other on the whole time, so it was a very welcoming event."
During the meet, Twist broke Rathgeber's record in the 100 butterfly, beating her 2019 fast time of 1:01.63 with a 1:01.56.
West Fargo's Sheyenne was crowned the 2022 State Champion with 340 team points.
The Midgets will graduate two seniors this year, Rathgeber and Williams, who are stong assets for their team.
"We will continue to look at those younger swimmers like Molly Ellerkamp... an eighth grader who made finals, and some other seventh graders that just missed qualifying cuts to help fill those spots," Wolf said. "We also have sophomores Hannah Meschke and McKenna Mettler who have been battling injuries, but will be looking to come back strong as well."
Girls State Swimming and Diving
DHS Team Leaders: 200 yard freestyle, 8. Charley Rathgeber, 2:01.38; 9. Mara Ellerkamp, 2:01.67; 50 yard freestyle: 7. Aryana Twist, 25.31; 100 yard freestyle: 6. Rathgeber, 55.85; 500 yard freestyle: 4. Taylor Miller, 5:22.86; 8. Mara Ellerkamp, 5:26.68; 200 yard freestyle relay: 2. DHS; Miller, Twist, Mara Ellerkamp, Rathgeber, 1:41.35; 400 yard freestyle relay: 4. DHS; Miller, Twist, Mara Ellerkamp, Rathgeber, 3:43.23
