MDN File Photo Senior Emily Brugman, seen here in a home meet earlier this season, was part of Minot’s first-place 400-yard freestyle relay team at the WDA Championships in Bismarck. Brugman, Elise Altringer, Sam Vonbokern and Jordn Wolsky paced the field with a winning time of 3:42.35.

On Saturday, the Minot Majettes girls swim and dive team achieved something that has eluded the program for the last seven years.

Minot won the Western Dakota Association championship over the weekend in Bismarck. It was the first time since 2014 that the Majettes had won the coveted title. According to Minot head coach Emily Jensen, it was quite a special day for all those involved.

“To see them come together this season and build their confidence meet by meet has been a pleasure to watch as a coach,” Jensen told The Minot Daily News. “This meet was so helpful.”

Minot led the eight-team field with a total of 467 team points, 48 points better than runner-up Bismarck Century. Meanwhile, Williston (246), Dickinson (232) and Legacy (229) rounded out the top five.

Among the highlights for the Magi, senior diver Bella Price earned first place in the one-meter dive with an all-state first team score of 457. Two Minot teammates also cracked the top five as Ella Kesler (433.10) and Haley Conklin (423.95) placed second and fourth respectively in that event.

The Majettes also took first in the 400-yard freestyle relay as the group of Elise Altringer, Emily Brugman, Sam Vonbokern and Jordn Wolsky paced the field with a time of 3:42.35. As a team, Minot also accumulated seven other second-place finishes at WDAs.

The team of Ava Williamson, Altringer, Wolsky and Brugman represented the Magi as runners-up in the 200-medley relay (1:54.43). Then in the 200-free, Altringer swam second to Sarah Dorrheim of Century at 2:01.06. Meanwhile, Vonbokerm earned second in the 50 and 100-free events with times of 25.22 seconds and 55.27 respectively. Wolsky added to Minot’s success as she took second in the 100-butterfly (1:01.76) and 100-backstroke (1:02.51).

In the 200-free relay, the quartet of Williamson, Reese Goodman, Bostyn Edwards and Vonbokern swam a second-place time of 1:43.94 for the Magi. Individually, Williamson also nabbed third in the 200-individual medley at 2:17.36.

Next up on the schedule, the Majettes plan to compete at state in Bismarck on Nov. 12 and 13. Like the WDA championships, it has also been seven years since the Minot girls program has won a state title in swimming. In order to end that drought, coach Jensen emphasizes the basics.

“Although we are thrilled with what we accomplished Saturday, we do want to stay focused with the season plan and continue to get ready for state,” the coach adds. “Our plan and our end goal is to stay focused on ourselves. It’s going be an exciting meet next weekend.”