It was a spectacular end to an incredible Becker Bulldog swimming and diving season last week as three Bulldogs had impressive performances at the MSHSL State Class A Swimming and Diving Championships.  Each Bulldog who qualified for state was able to come away with impressive finishes in a very competitive state meet.

The championships were held Thursday through Saturday at the U of MN Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Lauren Woelfel and Karli Kirk started things off for the Bulldogs on Thursday, as they both participated in the preliminary rounds for Diving.

Both Bulldogs were excellent, with Kirk being in 8th place and Woelfel in 9th after the semifinals.  This led to both girls participating in the MSHSL Diving Finals on Saturday.

Woelfel put an exclamation point on a fine diving career and finished in 8th place in her final trip to the state meet to earn a medal, while Kirk was close behind, finishing in 9th place.

Meanwhile, 8th grader Grace Mork swam in the preliminary rounds for both the 200 and 500 Freestyle races Friday afternoon.  

Mork entered the meet seeded 14th in the 200 and 11th in the 500.  The top 16 qualifiers in each swim race advanced to Saturday’s State Finals.

In the prelims, Mork placed 10th and earned a spot in the consolation heat in the finals, where she finished in 14th place overall.

In the 500, Mork ended up putting forth an 8th place finish to earn a spot in the finals.  In the process, she chopped 2 seconds off her personal best time and earned a School Record for her efforts.  She broke the previous record set in 1997 by Kelly Schwantz.

In the finals of the 500, Mork placed 8th overall and earned a walk up the podium to receive her medal.

Overall, Head Coach Tina Tamm was pleased with the efforts of her three athletes.

“We had a great day at the finals,” Tamm said.  “Our 3 girls scored a total of 34 points, giving us 22nd place out of the 41 teams that competed at the State Tournament.  It was a great way to end the season.”

Section

It was a solid Section swimming and diving meet for the Becker Bulldogs the week prior, as three members of the team qualified for the MSHSL Championships.

Senior Lauren Woelfel added to her great high school diving career by winning the Section 5A Diving Championship, while teammate Karli Kirk finished in fourth place.  

8th grader Grace Mork capped off an impressive regular season by qualifying for state in both the 200 and 500 yard Freestyle races.