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The Chisago Lakes girls swim and dive team had plenty to cheer about at the Section 5A Championships last week, held November 6-8 at Becker High School. 

Leading the charge was sophomore Eloise Arntson, who earned a trip to the Class A State Swim Meet in two individual events.

Arntson continued her breakout season with a pair of standout performances — finishing fourth in the 200-yard freestyle and second in the 500-yard freestyle, both good enough to secure state-qualifying spots. Her 200 free race was fast enough to get her an automatic qualifying time in a very fast field. She finished in 1:58.46. 

In the demanding 500 free, Arntson showed incredible strength and stamina for a sophomore, staying smooth through all 20 laps and hitting the wall for second place in a time of 5:16.15. Grace Mork of Becker won the top spot with a time of 5:09.38

At the State Class A Swim and Dive Meet, set for Friday and Saturday, November 14-15 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota, Arntson will look to carry her momentum against the state’s best. She enters the meet seeded 15th out of 24 swimmers in the 200 freestyle and an impressive fifth out of 22 in the 500 freestyle. 

The top 16 swimmers from Friday’s prelims will advance to Saturday’s finals, giving Arntson a strong chance to earn a spot among Minnesota’s elite.

Arntson wasn’t the only Wildcat making noise at sections — Reese Blum, Annika Coleman, Olivia Cunningham, Evangeline Kelton, Brooke Lind, Avery MacIver, Vayda MacIver, Aria Nelson, Lyla Nelson, and Ingrid Olson all advanced from prelims to finals, capping a terrific team performance despite being in the same section as the state’s number one ranked team, Monticello.

It was another strong showing for the Chisago Lakes program — and Arntson’s state-bound swims are some of the big highlights of the season so far.

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