by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
The number five showed up a lot for the Thief River Falls girls swimming team Saturday at the Otter Invitational at Kennedy High School in Fergus Falls. Thief River Falls recorded eight top-five finishes Saturday in a fifth place team finish.
The Prowlers’ best finish was fifth, with that honor being shared by five individual swimmers and two of the three relay teams.
Recording fifth place finishes for the Prowlers were Aniyah Fields in the 100 IM; Elise Schneider in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke; Brianna Berg in the 50 freestyle; Natalia Zoller in the 50 butterfly; and Shelby Holthusen in the 500 freestyle.
In relays, the Prowlers finished sixth in the 200 medley relay (Vanessa Thibert, Livia Thibert, Faith Hartmann, Berg); fifth in the 200 freestyle relay (Zoller, Vanessa Thibert, Hartmann and Berg); and fifth in the 400 freestyle relay (Fields, Gretta Grzadzielewski, Zoller and Vanessa Thibert).
Host Fergus Falls swam away with the team title. The Otters won 10 of the 16 events and racked up 577 team points to best runner-up Detroit Lakes and its total of 361.5.
The Prowlers are off until Tuesday, Oct. 3 when they host Warroad/Roseau/Greenbush-Middle River in a 5:30 p.m. dual meet at Franklin Middle School.
Otter Invite
• Team Scores: 1. Fergus Falls 577; 2. Detroit Lakes 361.5; 3. Morris/Minnewaska 277.5; 4. Perham/New York Mills 256; 5. Thief River Falls 250.
• 200 Medley Relay – Winner: Fergus Falls A (Aisling Cox, Karlie Petersen, Mayah Fear, Estee VerSteeg) 2:00.51; 6. TRF A (Vanessa Thibert, Livia Thibert, Faith Hartmann, Brianna Berg) 2:13.75; 8. TRF B (Elise Schneider, Gretta Grzadzielewski, Maggie Ulrich, Shelby Holthusen) 2:18.48.
• 200 Freestyle – Winner: Becca Femrite, Morris/Minnewaska Gators, 2:11.41; 10. Gretta Grzadzielewski 2:32.21; 15. Alora Holthusen 2:50.52; 16. Ember Hogenson 2:53.12; 18. Kailee Larson 2:54.89.
• 100 IM – Winner: Ella Kwapinski, Fergus Falls, 1:09.79; 5. Aniyah Fields 1:14.61; 8. Maggie Ulrich 1:19.01; 15. Chloe Skjerven 1:28.06.
• 200 IM – Winner: Estee Versteeg, Fergus Falls, 2:25.24; 5. Elise Schneider 2:46.93; 8. Shelby Holthusen 2:57.17; 11. Samantha Zoller 3:35.13.
• 50 Freestyle – Winner: Melena Longtin, Morris/Minnewaska, 26.22; 5. Brianna Berg 27.35; 8. Faith Hartmann 28.62; 10. Aniyah Fields 29.40; 19. Ella Giffen 34.66; 26. Cora Van Buren 35.77.
• 50 Butterfly – Winner: Mayah Fear, Fergus Falls, 30.45; 5. Natalia Zoller 31.99; 7. Maggie Ulrich 35.64; 15. Quinn Hetherington 46.68.
• 100 Butterfly – Winner: Grace Hamm, Detroit Lakes, 1:04.60; 8. Natalia Zoller 1:20.60.
• 100 Freestyle – Winner: Melena Longtin, Morris/Minnewaska, 58.18; 6. Brianna Berg 1:03.12; 14. Quinn Hetherington 1:16.59; 22. Aveah Hanson 1:41.13; 23. Jersey Johnson 2:15.64.
• 500 Freestyle – Winner: Estee VerSteeg, Fergus Falls, 5:42.50; 5. Shelby Holthusen 6:32.24; 13. Alora Holthusen 7:44.49.
• 200 Freestyle Relay – Winner: Fergus Falls A (Alexis Wellman, Mayah Fear, Karlie Petersen, Estee Versteeg) 1:46.36; 5. TRF A (Natalia Zoller, Vanessa Thibert, Faith Hartmann, Brianna Berg) 1:57.01; 6. TRF B (Maggie Ulrich, Gretta Grzadzielewski, Elise Schneider, Aniyah Fields) 1:57.32.
• 50 Backstroke – Winner: Hannah Fear, Fergus Falls, 32.60; 7. Ella Giffen 43.91; 8. Hailee Halvorson 45.96.
• 100 Backstroke – Winner: Aisling Cox, Fergus Falls, 1:08.59; 5. Elise Schneider 1:15.45; 8. Vanessa Thibert 1:20.72; 16. Hailee Halvorson 1:40.22.
• 50 Breaststroke – Winner: Ella Kwapinski, Fergus Falls, 37.05; 7. Chloe Skjerven 47.05; 9. Samantha Zoller 48.87; 10. Aveah Hanson 1:07.59.
• 100 Breastroke – Winner: Karlie Peterson, Fergus Falls, 1:15.85; 6. Livia Thibert 1:25.04; 16. Cora Van Buren 1:39.98.
• 400 Freestyle Relay – Winner: Morris/Minnewaska Gators A (Soffia Stadtherr, Sage Barnstuble, Becca Femrite, Melena Longtin) 4:05.17; 5. TRF A (Aniyah Fields, Gretta Grzadzielewski, Natalia Zoller, Vanessa Thibert) 4:27.98; 9. TRF B (Shelby Holthusen, Quinn Hetherington, Chloe Skjerven, Livia Thibert) 4:51.29.