The past two nights have been filled with excitement for the girls swim and dive team. Although the girls have taken some tough losses so far, they were hoping to bounce back during the West Michigan Relays. 

The diving team competed on Friday night in their first relay of the year. They had some standout athletes, including junior Rachael Yeager, senior Payton Dailey, and junior Jia Niemeyer, who all helped lead their relay team to place 5th out of sixteen.

“We all did really well; we threw some good dives, got it done, worked our butts off,” Payton said. “We worked super hard and came together as a team and scored 28 points for the team, which is pretty good.”

On Saturday, the swimmers put forth their best efforts. Although they could not beat out some of the other strong teams, they were still able to show some growth. The 200-yard free relay team made up of freshmen Allison Meny, Mady Scarlato, Maggie Holt, and senior Sydney VanLente were able to improve their previous time by 1.73 seconds, leading them to secure a solid 6th place out of sixteen teams.

“I think our 200 free relay is really solid,” Mady said. “Syd, Maggie, and Allison are all really great people to swim with, and I definitely think we will be going to states for that.”

Later in the meet, the team sent four girls out to compete in what they refer to as the “rookie relay.” Freshmen Juliana Gole, Adrienne VanDyke, and Amelia Donald competed with newcomer and sophomore Adrianne Latunski in the 800-yard free relay.

“It was my first time swimming the 800 relay, and it was definitely challenging, but it was very fun,” Adrienne said. “This is my first year swimming at a competitive level, so it’s hard at times, but everyone is really nice and supports one another.”

As the team continues to improve, they look forward to their next meet against Rockford, and the Forest Hills Northern/Eastern team on Tuesday, September 13, at 6:00 p.m. at the Forest Hills Aquatic Center.