is all smiles following the 100-yard backstroke at the Class AA state prelims Nov. 16 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. Seeded 20th, the Burnsville ninth-grader finished fifth to qualify for the final heat. She was also fourth in the 100 butterfly.
Led by senior Anna Elling and ninth-grader Angela Le, the Burnsville girls swimming team had a strong showing in the prelims Nov. 16 at the Class AA state meet.
That's set up the Blaze for a shot to finish in the top 10 in the team standings in the finals, which are Nov. 17 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center at 6 p.m.
Elling and Le each qualified for the final heat (top eight) in both of their individual events - Elling in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and Le in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.
Burnsville's 200 medley relay team of Elling, Le, junior Alexis Dobrzynski and ninth-grader Sidney Christopherson also got into the finals. Seeded sixth, the foursome ended seventh in the prelims with a time of 1:49.26. The same foursome also made up the 400 freestyle relay. Seeded seventh, they just missed the finals and will swim in the consolation heat after finishing 10th with a time of 3:35.06.
Elling was seeded third in the 500 freeestyle and she ended up fourth in the prelims with a time of 4:58.80. She was the fourth seed in the 200 freestyle and finished fifth (1:51.09).
Le was seeded sixth in the 100 butterfly and finished fourth with a time of 56.10. Seeded 20th in the 100 backstroke, Le had a terrific prelim swim finishing fifth to get into the finals with a time of 57.47.
Dobrzynski was the fourth seed in the 50 freestyle. She ended up tied for eighth with a time of 24.10, so she had to win a swim-off against Wayzata's Colleen Dolin after the meet to see who would get the final spot for the finals. Dolin edged Dobrzynski by .33.
Dobrzynski's other individual event was the 100 butterfly where she was seeded 24th. She finished tied for 21st (59.51). Also seeded 24th, Christopherson competed in the 100 breaststroke, finishing 26th (1:09.04).
Last year, Chanhassen finished 10th in the state team standings with 97 points. Burnsville looks in good position to get more than 97 points in the finals, which could get it into the top 10 in the team standings.
Can Elling finish her stellar Blaze career with a pair of top-five finishes? This is her fifth straight year competing in an individual event at state, although it's her first time swimming the 200 and 500 freestyles. Elling will swim at the Division I level next year in the Ivy League at Cornell University.
Elling's best individual state finish was as a sophomore in 2010 when she took fifth in the 100 butterfly. Le took seventh in the 100 butterfly last year in her first-ever state appearance and was 17th in the 100 backstroke.
To see complete results from the state prelims, go to: http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/upload/MSHSL220412Class%20AA%20Swimming%20Prelims%20Results.htm.
To see more photos of the Blaze, go to Scoreboard's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.518496238175731.116717.197190936972931&type=3.