Sports Spotlight on KFYR-TV North Dakota's NBC News Leader

Cassie Walth

Scott Westerberg

11/18/2009

Everyone knows the name Dagny Knutson, but another high school swimmer in North Dakota is making a name for herself beyond the state borders.

Century sophomore Cassie Walth entered last week`s state meet with the hopes of winning a team title. The Patriots accomplished that feat, and along the way something unexpected happened. In Friday`s prelims, Walth crushed the school record in the 100 freestyle and in the process, qualified herself for the Short Course National Championships held in early December.

"51.7 is the fourth fastest time for all 15 and 16 year olds in the nation right now for girls," says Loic Joseph, the Century swimming coach. "It is a really high standard and because of that she gets to go swim with Dara Torres, Amanda Beard, all those fastest girls in the nation at Short Course Nationals, and she`ll be competing against those guys."

"It was really unexpected," Walth says. "I wasn`t expecting that at all. It`s really exciting just to know that I`m able to swim with them. I`m not able to compete exactly with them, but I`m able to be there right next to them."

And getting the chance to swim with some of the sports most popular athletes is an opportunity very few North Dakota swimmers have ever had. Walth is just the third girl in state history to compete in the senior division at Nationals.

"For both of us it`s going to be a new experience," says Joseph. "We`re not going to go with a lot of pressure on our shoulders. We just want to be there and see what it`s all about, so hopefully the next two years when she`s still in high school we can go back to the meet and perform better."

"I know sometimes during the season you wonder why you even do it, why bother, but it`s really nice to know that it actually pays off and this is a really great opportunity, and I probably would have never done this without all the hard work," Walth says.

And Walth is hoping an experience like this will help lead to more individual and team success in her final two years at Century.

The National Short Course Championships will be held December 3 through the 5 just outside Seattle, Washington.

Walth will swim the 100-free prelims on the morning of the 5th.

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