On February 17th, the Swimming and Diving team competed at the UIL 6A State Meet. In order to qualify for state, swimmers must place top two at regionals in their respective events, while divers must place top three overall. This year, the swim team had nine qualifiers, and one diver qualified as well. The boys team placed 34th, and the girls placed 31st.

“I think that overall we swam well, but we were definitely expecting better results from both the guys and girls,” team captain and Missouri State commit Hadleigh Henslee (12) said. “I think we let our nerves get the best of us, but I’m very proud of how our team stepped up and performed even with that pressure.”

The state meet marks the conclusion of the swim season, which lasted from September to February. While the swimmers said they could have performed better, they are proud of their accomplishments during the season nonetheless.

“A lot of people stepped up when it was needed,” team captain and Indian River commit Chase Salling (12) said. “There were so many unexpected improvements this year, and there will be big stages for this team in the future.”

Qualifying Swimmers: John Simmons (10), Hadleigh Henslee (12), Chase Salling (12), Kate Alley (12), Alex Yin (10), Connor Wheeler (11), Jack Toole (10)

Alternates: Connor Kennison (12), Jack Egan (11), Tyron Chew (11)

Qualifying Diver: Abby Pink (11)

Alternate: Sydney Randall (9)

Finalists:

Simmons: 9th place 200 freestyle, 13th place 100 backstroke

Henslee: 11th place 200 IM, 10th Place 100 backstroke

Boys 400 freestyle relay(Simmons, Wheeler, Toole, Salling): 16th Place