It's been a decade since the West Fargo girls swimming team has been in this position.
"Everyone was telling us we were the team to beat this season," West Fargo coach Marsha Dahl said. "It took us awhile to believe it."
The Packers left no doubt in anyone's mind Saturday at the Fargo North pool.
Kelsey Schoonhoven and Ashley Reiter both won two events, leading West Fargo to a first-place finish at the Eastern Dakota Conference swimming and diving championships.
The Packers earned their first EDC title since 1993.
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"It's a great feeling," Reiter said. "It's kind of like a speechless feeling."
West Fargo racked up 264.5 points, outdistancing second place Fargo North, which finished with 246 points. Fargo South placed third with 195.
"I'm super happy," said North coach Jeff Steele, who was named EDC coach of the year. "We came in here to swim our best times and we did that."
Schoonhoven and Reiter also saved their best for Saturday.
Schoonhoven, a freshman, shaved two seconds off her seeded time in the 100-yard freestyle, bettering top-seeded Sarah Ziegelmann from North. Schoonhoven finished the race in 53 seconds.
"I really wanted to win it," Schoonhoven said. "With my teammates behind me, that helped a lot."
Schoonhoven capped her day by setting an EDC meet and pool record in the 100 backstroke, swimming a 59.50 in that race.
Reiter, a seventh-grader, was seeded second in both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. But she beat top-seeded Amy Anderson of Grand Forks Central in both races.
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"We had a great day," Dahl said. "I didn't know what to expect going into it."
North trailed West Fargo by a half point through nine events, but the Packers pulled away late. West Fargo earned two firsts and one second in the final three events. The Packers took first place in five of 12 events.
"We knew we would finish strong," Dahl said. "The thing that is different about this group is these kids trained all year long. If you want to be a great swimmer, you have to train all year long."
Ziegelmann paced North with a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle and a second in the 100 freestyle. She also swam legs on two winning relay teams.
"Sarah's a tough kid," Steele said. "She's a great competitor."
Eastern Dakota Conference Championships
At Fargo North
Individual results
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200 medley relay: 1, West Fargo (Schoonhoven, Reiter, Flaten, Springer) 1:54.95. 2, GF Red River 1:57.30. 3, South 1:58.22. 4, GF Central 1:59.82. 5, Jamestown 2:01.88. 6, North 2:07.05.
200 freestyle: 1, Whitehead, GFC, 1:56.75. 2, Omdahl, RR, 1:57.30. 3, Espel, North, 2:02.61. 4, Vanlishout, North, 2:04.06. 5, Nygard, RR, 2:06.97. 6, Rau, GFC, 2:08.28.
200 individual medley: 1, Reiter, WF, 2:15.25. 2, A. Anderson, GFC, 2:18.01. 3, Brandenburger, Jamestown, 2:22.75. 4, Berg, North, 2:23.42. 5, Jensen, Jamestown, 2:23.77. 6, Wessman, South, 2:24.04.
50 freestyle: 1, Ziegelmann, North, 25.14. 2, Burd, South, 26.36. 3, Scherr, Jamestown, 26.41. 4, Flaten, WF, 26.56. 5 (tie), Olson, WF, and Steele, Jamestown, 26.81.
Diving: 1, Lawon, South, 387. 2, Orseth, South, 364.2. 3, Kankelfritz, South, 345.95. 4, Swanholm, North, 345. 5, Field, Jamestown, 308.15. 6, Baasch, WF, 294.3.
100 butterfly: 1, 1, Omdahl, RR, 1:00.69. 2, Siefken, Jamestown, 1:06.01. 3, Flaten, WF, 1:07.16. 4, Moe, WF, 1:07.65. 5, Frei, Shanley, 1:08.00. 6, M. Anderson, GFC, 1:08.94.
100 freestyle: 1, Schoonhoven, WF, 53.00. 2, Ziegelmann, North, 54.29. 3, Haug, RR, 56.74. 4, Olson, WF, 58.38. 5, Nygard, RR, 58.47. 6, Scherr, Jamestown, 58.93.
500 freestyle: 1, Whitehead, GFC, 5:14.83. 2, Espel, North, 5:30.96. 3, Vanlishout, North, 5:31.93. 4, Bonzer, GFC, 5:38.17. 5, Rau, GFC, 5:41.16. 6, Sanner, RR, 5:45.28.
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200 freestyle relay: 1, North (Ziegelmann, Smith, Vanlishout, Espel) 1:45.44. 2, Jamestown 1:46.40. 3, South 1:47.84. 4, West Fargo 1:49.83. 5, GF Red River 1:50.15. 6, GF Central 1:55.11.
100 backstroke: 1, Schoonhoven, WF, 59.50 (EDC meet and pool record) . 2, Haug, RR, 1:02.81. 3, Springer, WF, 1:05.39. 4, Harris, South, 1:07.05. 5, Quam, South, 1:07.80. 6, Koehnen, WF, 1:09.04.
100 breaststroke: 1, Reiter, WF, 1:09.85. 2, A. Anderson, GFC, 1:09.90. 3, Wessman, South, 1:10.82. 4, LeDoux, North, 1:11.80. 5, Berg, North, 1:12.78. 6, Jensen, Jamestown, 1:15.19.
400 freestyle relay: 1, North (Espel, Vanlishout, Berg, Ziegelmann) 3:46.55. 2, West Fargo 3:47.35. 3, GF Central 3:55.33. 4, South 4:11.10. 5, Shanley 4:47.12.
All-Eastern Dakota Conference: Kelsey Schoonhoven, West Fargo; Ashley Reiter, West Fargo; Courtney Haug, Red River; Andrea Flaten, West Fargo; Jessie Scherr, Jamestown; Sarah Ziegelmann, North; Janel Lawon, South; Katy Rau, Central; Emily Nygard, Red River; Vanessa Johansen, West Fargo; Jenna LeDoux, North; Brie Siefken, Jamestown; Hannah Whitehead, Central; Lindsey Moe, West Fargo; Erin Wessman, South; Emma Espel, North; Michelle Omdahl, Red River; Amy Anderson, Central.
EDC coach of the year: Jeff Steele, North
EDC senior athlete of the year: Michelle Omdahl, Red River
Readers can reach Forum reporter Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513
