New Prague swimmers Taylor Bassett, Aspen Schieffer and diver Maddyn Anderson earned berths to the Minnesota State High School League’s Class AA state meet last week.
Bassett and Schieffer won the berths at the section meet Friday, evening, Nov. 7, in Rochester. Anderson punched her ticket to state at the section diving competition Thursday, Nov. 6, at Century Middle School in Lakeville.
The Class AA state meet diving preliminary round of competition begins this evening, Thursday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m., at the Jean Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus. The swimming preliminary events are slated for Friday, Nov. 14, 6 p.m. The swimming and diving finals are set for Saturday, Nov. 15, 6 p.m.
In sixth place after the semifinals, Anderson roared back from a 23-point deficit to win the final berth in the state meet with 268.95 points – .35 of a point clear of the fifth-place finisher. She struggled with some of the early dives involving twisting and earned big scores with her more complex dives late in the competition. New Prague diving coach Tracy Torgerson said Anderson’s comeback effort was fueled by a positive attitude and self-confidence. Torgerson’s hope for Anderson is making the finals and learning from the experience in her first trip to state.
“She has no idea how good she can be,” Torgerson said. Bassett won the trip to state Friday in the section finals with a fifth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle. Her time in the finals was 24.60 seconds. Bassett beat the state meet qualifying time (24.37 seconds) in the preliminary round with a time of 24.34 seconds.
Bassett won a...
To see more on this story pick up the November 13, 2025 print edition of The New Prague Times.