Nebraska Commit Jojo Randby Leads Marian To NSAA State Title

2021 NSAA Girls Swimming Championships

• Thursday, February 25 – Saturday, February 27, 2021
• University of Nebraska Swimming Pool
• Lincoln, Nebraska
• Short Course Yard (SCY)
• NSAA Championship HQ
• Results

The Marian High School girls won their 2nd straight team title at the 2021 Nebraska School Activities Association Swimming & Diving Championships over the weekend. The team declared a decisive victory, scoring 416 points to Lincoln Southwest’s 245 for second and Millard North’s 213 for third.

Top 10 Team Scores:

1. Marian – 416
2. Lincoln Southwest – 245
3. Millard North – 213
4. Norfolk – 186
5. Omaha Westside – 182
6. Elkhorn South – 159
7. Papillon La Vista – 156
8. Lincoln East – 129
9. Lincoln Southeast – 99
10. Burke – 84.5

Among those leading the charge for Marian was senior Jojo Randby who picked up wins in both the 100 breast and 50 freestyle. In the 100 Randby was 1:03.08 to take gold more than 2 seconds ahead of Lincoln Heart’s Ashlea Johnson who was a 1:05.66 for silver and Joslyn Jacobs for Norfolk’s 1:05.70 for bronze.

The win for Randby was a bit shy of her PB in the event which sits at a 1:01.29 from last year’s championships. That swim for Randby is also the current NSAA State Championship record.

In the 50 free, Randby hit a 23.01 for the victory, improving upon her previous best time of 23.14 from November. Lucia Rings from Elk South and Christina Spomer from Central Westside were the only others who got under the 24-second mark in the event, hitting 23.79 and 23.86 for silver and bronze, respectively.

Randby was also on a pair of state title-winning relays. In the 200 medley relay she split 28.45 on the breaststroke leg, joining fellow seniors Maddie Clark (back – 26.37) and Rylee Trojan (fly – 25.36) plus sophomore Katy Foley (free – 23.68). Three of those four were also on last year’s winning relay, though this year’s top time of 1:43.86 was half-a-second slower.

Then Randby led off Marian’s winning 200 free relay in 1:35.04, where she was joined by Josie Hood (23.43), Jessica Brusnahan (24.63), and Molly von Seggern (23.65) to defend another relay title in 1:35.04.

Randby concluded her last ever high school championships and will stay in-state next year as she will join the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers this fall.

Randby’s teammate Josie Hood picked up a gold for Marian in the 100 freestyle, winning by over a second with a 51.30. Lincoln Southwest’s Bella Livingston was behind her in a 52.28 and Marian’s Molly von Seggern was third with a 52.47.

Another double winner over the weekend was Lincoln Southeast swimmer Natalya Woods. Woods opened up the finals session with a 200 freestyle victory, dipping under the 1:50 mark with a 1:49.97. While Woods trailed the meet record of 1:48.74 set by Alana Palmer in 2017, she will have another 3 shots at it as she is only a freshman this year.

That swim knocked almost four seconds off Woods’ previous best time.

Woods was joined on the podium by Marian’s 100 freestyle winner Josie Hood (1:51.73) for silver and Molly von Seggern (1:54.04) for bronze.

Woods was back later for the 500 freestyle which she won with a 5:05.96 which was just off her PB of 5:03.11. Woods also trailed the meet record which sits at a 4:53.36 from Jenn Kocsis in 2006. Woods touched ahead of Lincoln Southwest duo Lily Schroeder (5:12.01) and Payton Kollmorgen (5:14.64).

Other Meet Highlights:

• Olivia Dendinger picked up the 200 IM title, hitting a 2:06.50. Last season, she swam the 100 fly and 100 breaststroke at the state meet, finishing 6th and 4th respectively, but this year she put that rare versatility together to win the 200 IM. She also finished 5th in the 100 fly individually.
• Norfolk senior Annika Harthoorn swam a 56.00 to nab the 100 butterfly victory. That’s a second-and-a-half faster than she was at last year’s state meet, where she placed 4th. Harthoorn is another swimmer who will stay in state, committing to D1 program Omaha.
• Millard North’s Hannah Hailu won 100 backstroke gold with a 56.33, out-touching Maddie Clark by just 0.01. Duchesne junior Lia Murray, who was the top returning finisher from last year’s state meet, slid to 4th in this year’s race.