Bruin girls’ swimming and diving placed third Saturday at the Springfield Invitational. Despite several top 16 finishes, the Bruins’ score came in 25 points behind Glendale and Lafayette, with 300 points.
All three of RBHS’s “A” relays placed in the top three overall. In individual events there were multiple events that placed in the top eight. In the 200-yard freestyle junior Kelley Tackett was out touched by less than half a second for a first place finish. Four freshmen earned nearly a third of all the points awarded to the Bruin team.
“I did well with shaking things off, not letting bad swims get to me,” freshman Nicole Williams, who placed in the top 16 of the 50 yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and both the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays, said. “We did really well cheering each other on and pumping each other up, especially for relays.”
Despite this, RBHS swimmers largely failed to race personal best times or to qualify any more swimmers for state championships in this meet.
“We were pretty tired,” Coach Laura Wacker said, “but that’s to be expected right now.”
Wacker and her swimmers spoke of several team members not only battling the clock and their competitors but illness as well.
“[The training] has been really hard on our bodies.” freshman Ellie Zweifel said, “We hadn’t realized it, so now we’re getting sick.”
The team shared a consensus of disappointment in their times, but they held hope for future improvement.
“We can use this to learn how to swim for state,” Zweifel said, “It helps us see what we need to improve and what works for us in a race.”
Senior Athea Felton went on to describe how she hoped the team could perk up in time for state. The Bruins have two more meets to try to make state qualifying times in or to improve their current time.
“Glendale won state last year so they’re fast,” Felton said, “But this year our team is just so big that I think we have a good chance of beating them.”
The Bruins’ next two competitions are both at Hickman pool Feb. 7.
By Skylar Froese