The girls swim team ended their season strong, taking home fourth place at their sectional meet on Feb. 6. Ending the night with a score of 211, they not only placed higher than they have in the past few years, but individual swimmers broke multiple school and personal records.
“The season was a huge success. We had a lot of great accomplishments and maybe more importantly than that, the team truly came together and was so supportive and the hardest working team we have ever had,” coach John Sincroft said.
Going up against nine other schools, sectionals is a very competitive meet considering the swimmer that wins first place in each event moves onto state, but swimmer Riley Bryk and diver Carli Merchant came out on top this year, making Bryk the first female swimmer to make it to state since 1982, and Merchant the first diver since 1994.
They are not the only ones that showed out at sectionals, however. Swimmers Marleen Taevere, Riley Bryk, Jaci Merchant, and Mary Nosek not only set a new school record for the 400 freestyle relay, but they also broke the school record for the 200 freestyle relay as well.
“There [were] a ton of personal records broken, such as freshman Hazel Miller’s 200 IM, sophomore Sarah Haynes’ 100 breaststroke, and senior Marleen Taevere’s 200 IM. Everyone did insanely well this year,” junior Riley Bryk said.
The girls did an amazing job this season and ended the year on a high note, accomplishing many things despite the COVID-19 school year. It was rough for them to not be able to have their supporters cheering them on in the stands, but they ended the season strong regardless.
“They treated each day as a gift and put their hearts in the training and competitions. We were blessed as a coaching staff to have such a great group of athletes,” Sincroft said. “The mindset when starting the season was to treat each day like it was a gift. We were much luckier than other states as far as being able to train and compete. [We had] to make the most of each day, [which] was really important.”