VC Sharks swim to 16 top finishes
The North Dakota Age Group Short Course 11 & Over State Championship was held at the Hulbert Aquatic Center over the weekend of March 15-17. This event is part of USA Swimming which is the same organization that oversees the US Olympic Swim Team. A total of 361 athletes from 14 different teams took part in the championship meet. For those unfamiliar with swimming events athletes must meet a predetermined qualifying time to compete and swimmers receive awards for placing 1st-16th place.
The Valley City Sharks had 6 swimmers qualify to compete in 31 individual events and two team re- lay events. Sharks with top sixteen finishes were: Lincoln Berg (11th place 100yd Backstroke, 10th place 200yd Individual Medley, 9th place 50yd Backstroke, 8th place 50yd Butterfly, 6th place 100yd Butterfly & 500yd Freestyle). Cambri Pfennig (11th place 100yd Individual Medley & 100yd Freestyle, 10th place 200yd Breaststroke, 9th place 100yd Breaststroke, 8th place 50yd Breaststroke).
Tricia Pfennig (16th 200yrd Breaststroke, 14th 50yd Backstroke). Damian Modlin (14th 100yd Individual Medley, 12th 50yd Breaststroke) The relay team of Lincoln Berg, Sophie Gilbertson, Tricia Pfennig and Damian Modlin finished 6th in the 4x100 Freestyle Relay and 7th in the 4x50 Freestyle.
The state championship marks the end of a long season that started back in the last week of October. “It is always a challenge to place top 8 or top 16 when you are swimming against the very best swimmers in the state and we were glad to have placed in nearly half of the events we swam,” said head coach Brian Wright. He added that, “It was a long season with a lot of challenges as we added many new, young swimmers to the team. We also had some great successes, especially in the way the team grew and improved. Now we are already thinking about next fall and ways we can continue to improve. One thing we would love to see more swimmers coming out to be part our team.” Congratulations to the Sharks on finishing a great season.