Packer power: Kennedy wins a second state title, while Norton and Greenman land career best performances
Published 2:54 pm Saturday, November 16, 2024
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MINNEAPOLIS – Austin seniors Alayna Kennedy and Reese Norton cemented themselves as two of the best Packers of all time and sophomore Gracie Greenman showed she is well on her way to joining them as all three shined in their third Class A state swimming and diving meet appearances at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota Saturday.
It was a grand finale for the diving duo as Kennedy scored her second straight Class A championship with a score of 444.80 and Norton took fifth place with a score of 344.35. Greenman made her mark with her best state finish ever as she re-set her AHS record and took second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.41 seconds.
Last year Kennedy won the Class A title with a score of 432.45, but a lot has happened since then. She was named an NISCA All-American after a busy summer that saw her compete in Italy and she also committed to Division Boston University.
She showed her improvement on Saturday as she cruised to the title.
“(Coach) Anna (Anderson) kept telling us to take in the moment. I just took my time and I didn’t let myself think about this being my last high school meet,” Kennedy said. “Just competing was on my mind. We compete all of the time. I’m very happy with the progress I’ve made. It really makes me feel like the hard work wasn’t for nothing.”
Norton entered the day in 12th place, but she nailed her first dive to move back in the top-five and she was able to improve on last year’s sixth place finish by one spot.
“I was very, very nervous. That (first) dive I’m most afraid of and the last confident with,” Norton said. “I was really scared about how it was going to go today. I tried not to focus on the score and I tried not to look at the scoreboard, but after hearing that I had 29 points on it, I was pretty happy with that.”
It certainly won’t be the final dive for Norton, as she will compete at Division II PennWest Clarion University in Pennsylvania. However she will have to say goodbye to Kennedy as a teammate after the two made big strides together over the years.
“I still don’t think it’s hit me that this was my last (high school) meet. It’s really sad, but for both of us it’s not the end of the book, it’s just the end of the chapter and we both have a lot more bigger things to look forward to,” Norton said. “I sometimes look back on videos of me diving from past state meets and I think, oh my goodness I was so bad. But then I look at my dives now and realize I’m so much better. It’s about working every year and I think that’s what drives us.”
Greenman let out a heap of emotion after she finished the 100-yard backstroke in second as she saw that she had set a new standard for herself and the Packer program.
“It felt amazing,” Greenman said. “I knew I was going to have to push and that’s what I did. I was a lot more comfortable (than past years), especially after my IM today. That helped warm me up.”
Alaina Biebl of Mounds Park Academy won the 100-backstroke with a time of 56.31 seconds, that was 1.1 seconds faster than Greenman.
Greenman finished 14th in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:14.81. Alivia Allingham, a senior from Breck, won that race with a time of 2:05.51.
Greenman enjoyed a historic season as she broke the 200-IM record at the Section 1A meet. That mark had belonged to her older sister Lindsay (Lukes) Schreiber since 2005. Greenman took off 3.5 seconds on her 200 IM record this season and she took 2.5 seconds off her backstroke record this season.
“I get a lot of motivation from my family and they’re my number one support system. They’ve motivated me in many ways this year,” Greenman said. “I’ve had a lot of drive the last couple of weeks to get where I want to go.”
