On Saturday, September 24, the girls swim, and dive team faced off against six other teams in the 1st Annual Jenison Swim and Dive Invitational. Although they were unable to make it to the top of the podium, many athletes got the opportunity to show their skills.

The diving team had four of their girls competing in the one-meter dive, where they were all able to place in the top ten. The juniors on the team scored as follows: Rachael Yeager placed third with a score of 298.2, Jia Niemeyer trailed right behind Rachael and secured a solid fourth place with a score of 270.9, and Lily Zorn also had an outstanding performance and earned herself a score of 258.2 putting herself in ninth place.

“There was great competition, and this meet was good practice for other 11 dive meets like MISCA and conference,” Rachael said. “We were missing a few key teammates, but I think we really gave everything we had and had some great individual performances.”

The meet offered a new experience to many of the athletes, as it was run in reverse order, but it did not seem to phase the swimmers. Starting the meet off in the 100-yard breast, freshman Maggie Holt earned herself a time of 1:20.10 and placed seventh. Next was the 100-yard back, where sophomore Nora Magers also placed seventh with a time of 1:06.49. Freshman Allison Meny showed her talent in the 100-yard free, where she placed fifth with a time of 57.77, and the 200-yard free, where she earned an impressive third place out of twenty-eight athletes with a time of 2:03.47.

“I think I did very well based on where we are in the season,” Allison said. “The team has had so much improvement since the beginning of the season, and I am so excited to see what happens at the rest of the meets and at the conference.”

The relay teams were able to stay strong throughout the meet. The 400-yard free relay team made up of freshmen Mady Scarlato and Allison Meny, sophomore Kayla Quach, and Junior Ashley Schenck scored a time of 4:07.42 and took home seventh place. Not only was the 400-yard relay successful, but the 200-yard free relay made up of Maggie Holt, Kayla, sophomore Norah Hemsley, and Ashley Schenck secured ninth place with a time of 1:56.46.

“As a whole, everyone did really well,” Ashley said. “Although the team placed sixth, everyone had the opportunity to try whatever event they wanted.”

Heading into next week, the girls hope to find more success throughout all of their events. Their next meet will be against Northview on Tuesday, September 27, at the Forest Hills Aquatic Center.