Girls’ varsity swim team: breaking records and winning sectionals

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Photographer: Mrs. Uy

Entire varsity girls’ swim team at sectionals after placing first

Written by Jessica Chavez, Editorial Editor

Photographer: Mrs. Uy
Team jumps in with the plaque and the coaches after their success at sectionals

Kayley Uy, Oliwia Wolek, Emily Johnson, and Lindsey Merk start sectionals strong winning the first 200 yard medley relay and breaking the pool record at 1:49.16 this past Saturday.

Moving on to the 200 yard freestyle, Emily Johnson takes first at 1:53.89, qualifying her for state. In the 200 yard individual medley, Oliwia Wolek takes second and Molly Gerches takes fifth. Alexis Webb takes second while Kayley Uy takes sixth in the 50 freestyle.

Merk breaks her second pool record for the 100 yard butterfly at an incredible 57.68 seconds, qualifying her for state. Emma Estes and Sarah Pawlik came in back to back, third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 yard breaststroke.

With the same strength they had coming in, the girls finished just as strong in the last race. For the final race of the night Johnson, Webb, Wolek, and Merk swim neck to neck in the 400 free relay. Falling behind CSHS, the girls put on a fight to keep up.

With Merk being the final swimmer in the relay, everyone cheers as she was the one to pass the other swimmer within the last 50 yards of the race, finishing at a strong 3:34.29. For the third time, Merk helps break another pool record along with Johnson and Wolek breaking their second record, and Webb breaking her first. Their relay will be moving them onto state along with the other girls.

The LTHS girls’ swim team ends sectionals with a great overall win for the team coming in first. We wish them the best of luck and hope to see more records broken as they move on to state this Friday and Saturday.

Photographer: Lexi Nichols
(From left to right:) Emily Johnson, Alexis Webb, Lindsey Merk, and Oliwia Wolek – record breaking 400 yard relay