Woodbury girls swimming & diving: Royals beat Roseville, win South Invite

The Woodbury girls swimming and diving team continued its strong 2012 season last week.

The Royals beat Roseville 94-84 in a Suburban East Conference meet on Thursday, before finishing in first place in the maroon division of the 2012 Maroon and Gold Invitational at the University of Minnesota over the weekend.

Woodbury scored 309 points and won the Maroon and Gold invite over rival East Ridge, which finished in second place with 302 points. St. Michael Albertville (296), Hutchinson (281) and Farmington (217.5) rounded out the top five, respectively.

Woodbury’s Mikayla Mayer was a big reason why the Royals earned the top spot.

Mayer won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.51 seconds and finished in second place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.38, earning Woodbury 37 points in the two events.

In addition, junior Kristina Swanson finished in sixth place in the 50 free with a time of 26.14 for 14 points and took ninth in the 100 free with a time of 57.73 for nine points. In the two sprint events, Woodbury scored 50 points.

Mayer also helped Woodbury’s 200-yard medley relay – along with Swanson, Ana Sortland and Kelsie Carter – finish in second place with a time of 1:54.21 and Woodbury’s 200-yard free relay take second place with a time of 1:42.43 – along with Swanson, Marina Rizzo and Sortland – to earn 34 more points in each event.

Woodbury’ diving team also gave the Royals a big boost. The Royals’ divers scored a total of 48 points for Woodbury in the meet. Woodbury senior Lauren Puglisi won the meet with a finals score of 230.75 for 20 points. Additionally, senior Megan George took fifth place (184.85) for 14 points, eighth-grader Meghan Miller took ninth place (167.5) for nine points and freshman Erin Brino (139.8) took 12th place for five points.

Also, in individual swimming events, Sortland finished in third place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.60 and earned fourth place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:13.43. Carter took fourth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.50, just back of Sortland, and placed 10th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:05.71. Rizzo earned fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:30.25 and placed sixth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:04.06 and Sydney Swanson finished in eighth place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:04.26.

Prior to the invitational, up 94-46, Woodbury mathematically won its meet against Roseville with three events remaining. The Royals finished in first place in each event except for one.

The Royals earned its highest point total in the diving competition as Woodbury went 1-2-3. Puglisi led the way with a 207.65 score, while George scored 169.5 and Miller scored 166.85 to take second and third, respectively.

In swimming events, Mayer won the 100 free and 200 free to remain unbeaten in dual meets, while Sortland won the 500 free and 50 free. Rizzo also won both of her individual events – the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. Woodbury’s Rizzo, Carter, Swanson and Sortland won the 200 medley relay, while Swanson, Carter, Mayer and Sortland won the 200 free relay and Swanson, Swanson, Mayer and Rizzo won the 400 relay.

Next, Woodbury looks to hold on to its momentum when it takes on perennial power Stillwater on Thursday in Stillwater.

Tags: swimming and diving, sports, woodbury, royals, prep, updates