[12] SportS the Network [March 2015]

Crusaders ‘half ’ what it takes to win a state championshiplaurenwarner

Racing toward the championship Junior Anya Lindholm competes in the 100 breaststroke at Metros on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Crusaders went on to win the Metro meet by a landslide. Photo by emmiemcminn

It was a .5 difference: 357 points for the Crusaders to Lincoln

Southwest’s 356.5. It doesn’t get much closer than that. On Feb. 26, 27 and 28, Marian swimmers and divers competed at the State Championship at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Nebraska. The girls earned the State title, thanks to the combined effort of the swimmers and divers.

The Marian dive team started the weekend out well, with sophomore Taylor Carter taking first place and sophomore Kelly Straub taking runner-up. “I do get nervous while I am diving, but once I take my first step on the board the nerves go away,” Carter said. Carter set a new overall Nebraska state diving record and also beat her mom’s Marian record from 1986. “[This season] I am most proud of setting the State record,” Carter said. Carter’s diving score was the only individual first place award Marian actually received, so her score, along with Straub’s, was crucial.

Straub said Carter and the rest of her team, along with the swimming team, helped motivate and push her to her best, “I am most proud of how far I’ve come this season. I’ve only been diving for a year and a half. I went

from a score of 388 to 491! That’s a huge improvement in diving. I worked so hard for this and finally something good came out of it.” When she found out she was runner-up, Straub said, “I couldn’t believe I actually did it!” With these two top finishes, Marian gained a greater chance of bringing home a State title, as diving and swim titles are combined to determine an overall top finisher.

Marian’s team won the Metro Championships, which took place on Feb. 13 and 14. This brought confidence to the team, but swimmers knew they still had to work hard to surpass Lincoln Southwest, the defending state champions. Between Metro and State, the girls trained hard to be as prepared and as motivated for state as possible. “We did a lot of mental training this year, so it really helped having that to ease my nerves before each race,” freshman Cassie Palmer said.

Head Coach Pat DiBiase said, “I love swimming because it is a very objective sport. The clock doesn’t lie, you know exactly where you stand on the team. High school swimming and diving is extra special because it is extremely team-oriented, while

most club teams focus more on the individual.” The team knew it would be a close race to win State, and a close race it was. Although it was a team effort, the title took various individual race advances to build up

points. “Savannah Nichols’ 100 fly would definitely be called unexpected as she pulled into third place at the last 10 yards,” sophomore Sarah Sutej said.

Although most Marian girls couldn’t make it to Lincoln to watch the State Meet, girls watched the close races and the finger-biting victory from home. The Marian swim team pulled out the State title, the first since 2007. “The best

part of the day was getting to watch the girls [Naeleah Hadford, Olivia Tate, Jenna Popp, Brynn Robertson] touch third in the last relay to win the state championship by 0.5 points,” Sutej said.

Marian was deep enough to pull out this victory by such a small margin. The divers’ first and second ranking and the amount of Marian girls that qualified for finals, as each girl that qualified earned a point for the team, were essential to the win. For many girls, the moment of the victory was surreal.

“When I found out I won State, I didn’t believe it at first, but then it hit me when my friend sent new picture of the final scores that were displayed on TV,” Palmer said. NETV gave up-to-the-minute updates of scores, so viewers at home often knew detailed information faster than the swimmers by the pool did.

For the swimmers who missed Surprise Day because of the Metro Championships, their state title meant one more thing. Coach DiBiase would rent them a bouncy house, for their own Surprise Day, in honor of their state win.

Four years paid off Senior swimmers Emmie McMinn, Molly LaFave, Brynn Robertson, Summer Baldwin, Indiga Hadford and Julie Moritz hold their state championship trophy before presenting it to athletic director, Ms. Rochelle Rohlfs. Photo courtesy of Kate Pickering

Lauren WarnerOmaha Marian - ASports News Coverage