The girls swim and dive team members absence on Friday could only mean one thing, State 2014. The preliminaries and diving took place on Friday and those advancing to finals swam on Saturday as well. The much awaited event is only attended by swimmers with state qualifying times. The exhausting 7 a.m. practices all seem to pay off when swimmers find themselves on the road to state.
The meet kicked off Friday with the diving team. Two divers, sophomore Jamie Goldberg and senior Hannah Swyers were well represented at the meet, both placing in the top 7. Swyers commented on the unusual circumstances at state this year.
“Goldberg and I have both competed in state since our freshman years and were surprised by how difficult the judges were scoring.” Swyers remarked
However the grueling judging did not affect these divers as Hannah Swyers placed seventh in the diving competition and Jamie Goldberg came in fifth.
The team placed 11th overall in state, one place higher than the previous year. The medley and free relay advanced into the finals at the meet. Senior, Courtney Nall and Freshmen, Madison Brown both finished in the top 7 for their individual events.
Courtney Nall placed seventh out of fifty competitors in the 50 free competition. In addition, Nall placed 11th in the 50 free with a split time of 53:55.
“This year meant redemption for me because I did not do very well last year and I knew that. It was exciting to see my hard work from the season pay off.” Nall said.
In addition, Freshmen, Madison Brown had success at her first experience at state. She received 4th place in the 100 backstroke with a 57.99 split and received 12th place in the 100 fly with a 59.71 split time.
“Standing on the podium was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever ever had.” Brown said
Brown’s supportive team and incredible experience as a freshmen will never be forgotten.
“Throughout the meet we lived by the motto ‘leave everything you got in the pool’ and that’s what I did. I knew my team was supporting me the whole time and I couldn’t have done it without them.” Brown remarked.
Although the girls wished the season was longer, the state competition concluded the season on a high note. Their dedication and hard worked proved to be worth it with their impressive placement at the state competition.
