Tollefson soars to silver | News, Sports, Jobs
T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING – Grinnell’s Trista Thompson stands atop the podium following Friday’s Iowa Girls State Diving Championships at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. Thompson is flanked on either side by Abby Tollefson of Marshalltown (2nd), Avery Hogan of Waterloo West (3rd), Natalie Freeman of Cedar Rapids Jefferson (4th), Berit Kallemeier of Dowling Catholic (5th) and Lacey Neighbor of Cedar Rapids Kennedy (far left).
The nerves were there early for Marshalltown junior Abby Tollefson at the Linda Bloom Natatorium inside the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. One of the top divers in the state heading into Friday night’s state diving meet, she said there were jitters she had to get out. Her first two or three dives weren’t perfect — Tollefson went so far as to call them “shaky” — but the stretch run allowed her to show her best work. In the end, Tollefson was on the medal stand for the second-straight season after a second-place finish and 504 points.
In the second half of the meet, Tollefson said she hit her stride.
“I feel like you gotta get the nerves out on some dives, but after that I felt pretty good,” Tollefson said. “I felt pretty good going into the second round and third round. I have another year under my belt with the dives that I’ve competed with. I really haven’t changed all that much since last year, I’ve just made more improvements to the dives I’ve been completing.”
Finishing 34 points behind state champion Trista Thompson of Grinnell, Tollefson was in an uphill battle all evening long. She still finished two spots in front of her fourth-place finish from 2021 and was the highest-finishing non-senior. One change from the 2021 season was her dive lineup, which largely stayed the same all season.
Tollefson explained that in 2021, she changed much of her lineup at state to try and get higher scores, which messed with her comfort level on some of her later dives. Without the chopping and changing this year, Tollefson has been given most of the season to perfect and tinker with the same 11 dives.
T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING – Marshalltown junior diver Abby Tollefson performs a back dive during Friday’s state competition at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA.
Head coach Angie Nelson said the continuity of her lineup this year gave Tollefson more confidence.
“She found her rhythm and she always pops up a considerable amount in the last three,” Nelson said. “She has three really, really good dives in the bottom three that she throws out there. They’re confidence dives.
“I think it’s a big deal because you know where you’re at scoring-wise, where your bumps are and where they aren’t. You know how to play that game all the way through the dive list.”
Alongside Tollefson, two other Bobcats participated in the meet with senior Kaisa Stanley and sophomore Kate Hauser making their state debuts.
Stanley got to end her career by competing in the state meet, and Nelson said she was very impressed with how Stanley’s last month of the season went. However, she was off her game on Friday and missed the first cut with a score of 183.85 and 29th-place finish. Hauser was 26th with 187.6 points.
T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING – Marshalltown sophomore diver Kate Hauser twists through the air during a dive at Friday’s state meet at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. Hauser placed 26th in her state debut.
Earlier in the day, Lesli Waltermire and Maeve Janssen took part in the state swimming preliminaries.
Both were in the 50-yard freestyle, with Waltermire swimming in the second heat and Janssen in the final heat. Janssen finished 24th with a time of 25.44 seconds and Waltermire transferred into the consolation finals at 15th place with a 25.25.
Waltermire then doubled her consolation final tally with a 16th-place finish in the 100 freestyle prelims thanks to a seven-tenths drop from her regionals time to state (55.82 to 55.12 on Friday). In both events, the junior will have the opportunity to finish as high as ninth place.
Nelson was thrilled with her swimmers, and in particular with Waltermire’s speed in a big moment.
“[Waltermire] had great races today, she had a really good rhythm and she was strong on the walls,” Nelson said. “Look for awesome things from her tomorrow. She’s in a good spot.
T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING – Marshalltown senior Kaisa Stanley performs a dive during Friday’s state meet at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. Stanley, in her state meet debut, finished 29th.
“Maeve Janssen had a great meet today. She’s fast. She’s long and she’s fast, and I look for her to be able to move her splits quite a little bit as we come into the relays tomorrow.”
Saturday at noon, the state swimming finals take place. Marshalltown has swimmers in four events — the 200 medley relay, 50 free, 100 free and 200 free relay.
Iowa Girls State Swimming and Diving Championships
At Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA
Friday’s Results
T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING – In the final individual race of her Marshalltown High School career, Maeve Janssen cuts through the water during the 50-yard freestyle preliminaries on Friday at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. Jannssen placed 24th in the event with a time of 25.44 seconds.
1-METER DIVING
1. Trista Thompson, Grinnell 538.30
2. Abby Tollefson, Marshalltown 504.00
3. Avery Hogan, Waterloo West 498.50
4. Natalie Freeman, CR Jefferson 494.00
T-R PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING – Marshalltown’s Lesli Waltermire swims her way to 16th place in the 100-yard freestyle preliminaries at the Iowa Girls’ State Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. Waltermire will swim in Saturday’s consolation finals.
5. Berit Kallemeier, Dowling 481.95
6. Lacey Neighbor, CR Kennedy 460.40
7. Camryn Russell, Grinnell 457.40
8. Sasha Gisi, Dowling 441.45
9. Isabel Hawker, CR Washington 440.70
10. Jacie Flockhart, Boone 428.85
11. Katelyn Mackey, CR Kennedy 427.50
12. Holli Hetzer, SE Polk 427.45
13. Kylie Link, CR Kennedy 426.30
14. Audrey Doud, Dowling 425.70
15. Alina Markutsya, Ames 424.45
16. Alise Grady, Johnston 406.80
17. Liv Miner, Johnston 302.50
18. Kate Denner, Linn-Mar 302.10
19. Liz Noll, WDM Valley 300.90
20. Rosa Monarch, Mason City 298.90
21. Ainsley Young, IC West 198.20
22. Maddie Glaus, Pleasant Val. 195.00
23. Kamila Swanson, IC West 194.65
24. Brinley Krivachek, Decorah 193.20
25. Greta Stanier, IC High 192.55
26. Kate Hauser, Marshalltown 187.60
27. Janie Wyatt, WDM Valley 186.45
28. Hannah Kolars, Ankeny 184.50
29. Kaisa Stanley, Marshalltown 183.85
30. Grace Kolker, Hempstead 177.60
31. Reese Taylor, Algona 173.85
32. Lydia Boehlert, Ankeny 170.60
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PRELIMINARY RESULTS
(Top 8 plus Marshalltown)
200 FREESTYLE — 1. Nora Kemp, Waukee, 1:48.85; 2. Jade Roghair, Iowa City West, 1:51.56; 3. Faith Frantum, Johnston, 1:52.42; 4. Olivia Frantum, Johnston, 1:53.53; 5. Kolby Reese, Lewis Central, 1:54.01; 6. Kylee Brown, Lewis Central, 1:54.01; 7. Taylor Judas, Waukee, 1:54.57; 8. Riley Snakenburg, Ames, 1:54.97.
200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY — 1. Olivia Swalley, Johnston, 2:00.33; 2. Mallory Kell, Waukee, 2:04.81; 3. Willa Hage, Waukee, 2:05.19; 4. Annie Honkamp, Dowling Catholic, 2:05.32; 5. Julia Sweetman, Dowling Catholic, 2:05.92; 6. Anja Peck, Ankeny, 2:07.60; 7. Andra Robertson, Ames, 2:08.63; 8. Dylan Hogenson, Waukee, 2:09.03.
50 FREESTYLE — 1. Grace Hoeper, Iowa City High, 23.54; 2. Payden Rafferty, Waukee, 23.90; 3. Anna Gute, Boone, 24.49; 4. Athieno Wandera, Waukee, 24.60; 5. Maria Trotta, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 24.63; 6. Hailey Vogel, Fort Dodge, 24.72; 7. Hayden Bailey, Waukee, 24.90; 8. Sophia Mason, Cedar Falls, 24.98; 15. Lesli Waltermire, MHS, 25.25; 24. Maeve Janssen, MHS, 25.44.
100 BUTTERFLY — 1. Mallory Kell, Waukee, 56.15; 2. Hannah Cousins, Davenport Central, 56.20; 3. Grace Hoeper, Iowa City High, 56.21; 4. Julia Sweetman, Dowling Catholic, 57.39; 5. Hayden Bailey, Waukee, 58.46; 6. Dawsyn Green, Pleasant Valley, 58.68; 7. Mary Flikkema, Cedar Falls, 59.42; 8. Addison Oelke, Sioux City West, 59.58.
100 FREESTYLE — 1. Hayley Kimmel, Linn-Mar, 51.68; 2. Nora Kemp, Waukee, 51.76; 3. Anna Huss, Dowling Catholic, 53.34; 4. Evan Schwickerath, Waukee, 53.73; 5. Brynnly Woolums, Southeast Polk, 53.75; 6. Taytem Lehmann, Cedar Falls, 53.78; 7. Eileen Fierke, Fort Dodge, 53.83; 8. Athieno Wandera, Waukee, 54.03; 16. Lesli Waltermire, MHS, 55.12.
500 FREESTYLE — 1. Faith Frantum, Johnston, 4:58.67; 2. Jade Roghair, Iowa City West, 4:59.25; 3. Zoe Davey, Waukee, 5:01.60; 4. Olivia Frantum, Johnston, 5:03.22; 5. Kolby Reese, Iowa City West, 5:06.33; 6. Riley Snakenberg, Ames, 5:07.01; 7. Taylor Judas, Waukee, 5:07.29; 8. Allison He, West Des Moines Valley, 5:07.82.
100 BACKSTROKE — 1. Hannah Cousins, Davenport Central, 55.56; 2. Payden Rafferty, Waukee, 55.89; 3. Hayley Kimmel, Linn-Mar, 56.58; 4. Abby Wilcox, Dowling Catholic, 57.57; 5. Avery Schmidt, Dubuque Wahlert, 57.92; 6. Evan Schwickerath, Waukee, 58.38; 7. Rachel Rolow, Ankeny, 59.04; 8. Sutton Paulsen, Cedar Falls, 59.46.
100 BREASTSTROKE — 1. Olivia Swalley, Johnston, 1:02.58; 2. Willa Hage, Waukee, 1:03.94; 3. Isabel Heller, Davenport Central, 1:04.90; 4. Annie Honkamp, Dowling Catholic, 1:05.07; 5. Emma Foth, Dowling Catholic, 1:05.18; 6. Anja Peck, Ankeny, 1:05.68; 7. Emma Myers, Carroll, 1:05.96; 8. Eileen Fierke, Fort Dodge, 1:05.97.
