Four CEC swimmers reach state meet

Four members of the Cloquet-Esko-Carlton girls swim team advanced to the Class A girls state tournament this week at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis following the Section 7A meet last weekend in Duluth.

Makayla Suominen, Madelynn Dostal, Hannah Sandman, and Kashmir Mercer will be competing in the girls 200 freestyle relay. The team finished third in the section meet Saturday at Duluth's Lincoln Park Middle School and qualified with a time of 1:41:51.

"These girls have worked so hard all season long and I am so proud of how they performed," said first-year head coach Rachel Peterson. "Our entire team is so selfless and I am so pleased," she said. The swimmers refer to themselves as the Lumberjack "Swam-ly," to rhyme with "family."

Home-schooled senior Makayla Suominen also qualified for two individual races at the Class A state tournament with first place finishes in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle.

Suominen finished with a time of 51.62 in the 100, which was the second-fastest statewide in section qualifying times and well ahead of her local competitors. Her section time was one second behind Taylor William's of Benilde St. Margaret's. Williams finished second last year in the 100 freestyle behind Lexi Kucera of Hutchinson.

Suominen, who finished tied for third last year, will be competing against five of the top six finishers from last year's state finals. Kate Thomasen of Two Harbors will also be swimming in the 100 freestyle.

"Suominen is a premier athlete in her two individual events, and with her experience I am hoping she has her career bests at the state meet," Peterson said. "We have a lot of young swimmers who look up to her and see how hard she works at this sport, it's so great to see that."

Suominen will also swim the 50 freestyle, an event she won in 2016. Heading into the state meet, she had the fastest section time of 23.51, three tenths of a second faster than last year's state 50-yard freestyle winner Grace Hanson of Hutchinson.

Suominen is hoping to reclaim her Class A 50-meter state title after finishing two-tenths of a second behind Hanson last year. The Class A finals begin at noon today. Diving preliminaries were Wednesday and swimming preliminaries were Thursday as this issue of the Pine Knot News when to press.

Coach Peterson said Maddie Dostal will swim leadoff in the 200-freestyle relay, followed by Sandman then Mercer, with Suominen swimming the anchor leg. The Lumberjack relay team finished less than a second behind the top two finishers, Hibbing and Eveleth-Gilbert.

"Our entire team swam well the entire year and I am fortunate to coach such a great group," Peterson said. "I think I am more nervous and anxious for the state tournament than the girls are, they have been there before and this is my first time."

Cloquet-Esko-Carlton finished fifth in the section 7A meet. Mesabi East was the section champion, followed by Hibbing, Two Harbors and Eveleth-Gilbert.

Coach Peterson also talked about senior Abby Johnson, who was a diver for the Lumberjacks this season, and how well she did all season long.

"We added diving this year and Abby stepped up and worked so hard at diving," she said. "It was so nice to see how well she did."

Johnson finished in sixth place in the section meet.

Johnson and Suominen are the two lone seniors for the Lumberjacks this year.

"Seeing the number of girls we have at the younger ages, the program looks good for the future," Peterson said.