The district announced the 2026 Warrior Hall of Fame class this week and two of the four inductees are swimmers. I think that says something about this program, so I wanted to write it up.

Ann Kennedy, Class of 1979

Ann Kennedy, Class of 1979, was our MVP in 1977 and 1978. She set the school records in the 100, 200 and 500 free and then they just sat there. The 100 and 200 stood for 41 years and the 500 for 43. She swam Division I at Nebraska, went on to be Chief Product Officer at a Silicon Valley company, and while she was doing that got back in the water and won two US Masters national titles in 2012. After retiring she coached high school swimming and now volunteers with nonprofits.

Avery Vogen, Class of 2021

Avery Vogen, Class of 2021, was MVP three years running, 2018 through 2020, a two-time captain, a three-time state qualifier, and the program's all-time leading scorer. She set five school records, and four of them were more than 40 years old. Three were Ann's. The fourth was the 100 fly, which belonged to Ann's sister Peggy. Kirk Vogen, Avery's dad, put it to me this way, "The record board used to have Kennedy all over it!" It took one swimmer four decades later to clear it. Avery went on to Denison, earned four First-Team All-American honors, graduated cum laude in biology, and is now working on a master's in biostatistics at Boston University. Somewhere in there she also finds time for mental health advocacy and community health coaching.

Avery's senior season was the COVID year, 2020, and the new aquatic center wasn't finished in time. The gutters were behind schedule because of COVID, and as Kirk understands it the pool would have been done on time otherwise. So the girls raced that whole season out of Heritage, then got one week in the new pool right before sections. Kirk said all the girls did a coordinated first jump in, which I would have liked to see. The 100 fly and 50 free went at Hastings, and the 100 and 200 free went earlier that fall and then came down again at sections. But the 500, Ann's longest standing record, fell in a home meet against Mahtomedi on October 1, 2020, at Heritage. That's the same pool Ann would have trained in, so her oldest record went down in her own pool, 43 years later. The Villager covered that season if you want the details, Sibley girls having breakout year amid shortened swimming season.

A footnote, Avery's 500 lasted three years. Elyse Jahn took it in 2023. You can see the whole board on our Team Records page and the MVP list going back to 1974 on Team MVPs. Ann and Avery did the same thing 40 years apart: they were very good at swimming here and then went and got very good at something else, and I'd like to think the long sets have something to do with that.

The inductees will be honored at the homecoming football game this Friday, October 2. Go clap for them if you can. 
Mike