The girls swim team attended the state competition at Waukesha South High School, on Nov. 15, with events placing fifth, ninth, and tenth.

“I think it went really well. We didn’t really podium in anything, but we did improve on our times a lot. And we did well overall,” senior Kyla Manata said.

Even without making it on the podium, the team’s swimmers placed very well against the best swimmers in the state. In single events, sophomore Anna Schliepp took fifth in the 500 freestyle and sophomore Alexia Pacurar took tenth in the 200 freestyle. 

“I think it went pretty good. We all swam pretty well, and we got best times in some of our relays,” Schliepp said.

The relay team of Schliepp, Pacurar, Manata, and Green Lake senior Peyton Zamzow took ninth in the 400 freestyle relay, and tenth in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.

“I think a lot of girls didn’t like how they were performing in the beginning, but by the end I think we all could say that we performed really well this season,” Manata said.

Looking back, the team has had a long and successful season, in part because of their team unity and togetherness.

“In general, there was a good amount of team building, so we were one team,” Manata said.

No season is without challenges, and the team certainly faced some roadblocks.

“A challenge they faced was not dropping as much time as they thought they should be dropping at certain times,” Swim Coach Amy Slonecker said.

Even with adversity, the girls team went above and beyond and made it all the way to the state level competition, which is something to be proud of.

“It was a good season, a lot of hard work, and a lot of time dropped,” Slonecker said.