Schnaith turns in stellar state meet

MINNEAPOLIS – Red Wing senior Abbey Schnaith couldn’t hide her elation Saturday at the Class A state swimming and diving meet.

Schnaith, who made her sixth career state meet, completed one of her best state meets in her career in the finals with a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle and sixth in the 100 backstroke. The meet marked the best finish in two events she’s had since her sophomore year.

Schnaith finished the 100 free in 53.09 seconds and gave her the second highest placing of her career. She also improved upon her preliminary time by .22 seconds. Schnaith finished third one year at state. Schnaith followed her fourth-place finish with a sixth-place finish in the backstroke with a time of 59.61 seconds.

Schnaith opted to compete in the 100 back at state versus the 50 free, which she had swam in her previous state meets. Part of the reasoning for the switched stemmed from the slim margin of error involved with the 50 free.

Schnaith broke the school record in the 100 back Friday during qualifying and finished within five one-hundredths of a second from the mark she established Friday in the finals.

Schnaith also set a meet record in the 100 back at the Section 1A meet to qualify for state. She broke the school record twice this season in the 100 back.

Sartell-St. Stephen’s Ellen Bloom won the 100 back in 55.88 seconds and Little Falls’ Whitney Weisz won the 100 free in 50.57 seconds.

Sartell-St. Stephen won the team title with 238 points. Northfield finished second with 170 and Monticello placed third with 156 points.

Sartell-St. Stephen’s Marisa Wood set a new all-time mark in the 500 freestyle with a record time of 4:49.68, nearly a second faster than the previous record time. Wood also established a new Class A record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:48.86.

Mankato West’s Danielle Nack set a new Class A record in the 50 free with a time of 22.93 seconds and in the 100 butterfly in 53.97, nearly two seconds faster than the previously held state record.

Tags: red wing, sports, prep, swimming