Racing To State
Swimmer Breaks Two School Records
The girls swim and dive team competed at State Championships in St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 18-19. Twelve athletes made the state team, along with six of them being individual qualifiers.
Senior Taylor Graham broke two school records for the 100 and 200 freestyles. In the 200 freestyle, she placed 9th with a time of 1:54.97, earning an All-State Honorable Mention.
“It’s really crazy,” Graham said. “I wasn’t expecting it. It just kind of happened. My original goal was to get down to 1:56. At finals I surpassed that and was able to get a 1:54 which just happened to be below the record.”
Graham also had a 5th place podium finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.22.
“The 100 I was pretty close all season. It wasn’t necessarily a goal, but the time to drop was my goal,” Graham said.
Junior Ana Williamson placed 10th in the 500 freestyle, earning an All-State Honorable Mention.
“I think I swam my best race of the season,” Williamson said. “I dropped over 7 seconds in the 500s, so that was good.”
The team prepared by focusing on their individual races and getting into the mindset to compete. This was the first year freshman Jacey McGraw was on the team, and she said her first season went well.
“I think we did really well,” McGraw said. “Our relays made it to finals, and we had individuals make it to finals, and we broke some school records.”
The team ended their season with five All-State Honorable Mentions and an All-State placer with two school records.
