The swim and dive team geared up for their postseason with a competitive D3 invitational in Holland, Michigan on September 30th. They finished 5th out of 11 teams in a meet that saw less than 40 points separate the top five.

Outside of the 5th place finish, the team was happy with their individual results, as 86% (43/50) of the swims that day were personal bests.

The team also came home with multiple state cuts, which is a big accomplishments.

“I feel like going in we had a pretty good chance of getting people to states, but it’s still really hard to get swimmers to state,” freshman swimmer Ruby Jackson said.

The team came home with all three relays qualified for states-the first time in four years that all the relays qualified for states. The relay members included Brooke Paddock (‘27), Gabi Rudolph (‘26), Sydney Barston (‘25), Paiton Doyle (‘25), Keygan Monahan (‘25), Tallulah Gorby (‘25), and Gabriella Burgess (‘24).

While divers must compete at regionals before qualifying for states, freshman diver Anna McAllister had a successful day as well, taking first place over many of the top divers in Division 3.

The team members credit their success to the team environment and the support they have for each other.

“The team worked together to cheer for each other and push through the harder swims,” junior swimmer Remi Kint said.

The team also receives support from their coaches before the meet.

“We normally get talked to by a coach before a meet, which helps us feel confident going into this stuff,” Jackson said.

The swim and dive team closes out their season with SEC White division dual meets throughout October, before they swim at the SEC championships Nov. 4th and 5th, followed by the state meet Nov. 17th and 18th.