Ringwall chasing state title in 100 freestyle

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Dickinson Trinity’s Ketti Ringwall won her first individual West Region title in the 100-yard freestyle last Saturday. Fast forward less than a week and the junior has an individual state title on her mind.

“I’ve been focusing on the 100 and 200 freestyle all year,” Ringwall said. “I’m really hoping to come out strong at state.”

Ringwall and the rest of the Dickinson swimmers, who co-op with Williston, return back to Bismarck Aquatic Center for the two-day North Dakota swimming and diving state tournament that begins at 2:30 p.m. today.

“It’s really exciting knowing that the season is coming to the end, even though I love swimming,” Dickinson High freshman Leah Grove said.

Ringwall leads the state in the 100 freestyle with nearly a fourth-tenth of a second advantage over Fargo North’s Emily Roche. Ringwall’s time is 54.41 seconds while Roche’s time is 54.79. Ringwall is trailing state leader Bismarck Century’s Dani Bergeson in the 200 freestyle by nearly four seconds.

“She’s a fantastic athlete,” Williston head coach Thomas Wheeling said. “She’s going into the state being ranked No. 1 in the 100 freestyle and No. 2 in 200 freestyle. She is also someone we look to to give our relays a huge spark.”

Not only does Ringwall have the ability to win an individual title, but she can also help the team to relay title or, more importantly, a top-four finish at state.

“Our confidence is still high and we’re still shooting for our preseason goal of a top four team,” Wheeling said. “It looks really close on paper. Obviously, you have to show up and do the work this weekend to have that happen.

“I think we were going to peak at the right time. It’s an achievable goal to crack into the top four this year.”

Going into the West Region meet, Ringwall and Grove knew Minot and Bismarck Century were going to be the teams to beat. The Coyotes finished third behind those teams, respectively. The swimmers’ mindset isn’t changing going into the state meet.

“We did really well as team,” Ringwall said. “We dropped time, which is what we wanted to do. We knew Minot and Century would be tough to beat.”

Wheeling has a handful of swimmers that returned with state experience. He hopes the return of swimmers like Ringwall and Grove are able to be a stabilizing force.

“I think it’s going to help a lot this year,” Wheeling said. “A good chunk of the girls we are taking to state this year were on our state team last year.”

Since the West Region meet finished, the swimmers have been slowly tapering their time in the pool. Grove said despite the practice yardage going down, their workouts now are keeping them mentally and physically sharp.

“It’s a lot shorter than what we start out with, but we still have hard sets to stay in shape,” Grove said.

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