After a week off, the boys swim and dive team headed into their sixth meet of the season this past weekend. The 2023 Spartan Invitational in Battle Creek gave the boys some tough competition, but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle.

The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay, where juniors Reed Dixon and Dylan Pomeroy, along with seniors Ben Rogala and Gavin Cai were able to snag a solid sixth place out of nineteen teams with a time of 1:43.34 which was also able to give them a state qualifying time. Later, in the 200-yard free relay freshman Lucas Witham, sophomore Sam Grant, and seniors Gavin Cai and Isaac Stewart were able to secure fifth place with a final time of 1:36.06.

The meet continued on with the individual races. To start things off for the Rangers, Lucas Witham earned ninth place in the 200-yard free after he finished with a time of 1:53.74. Lucas was also able to take a solid eleventh place in the rigorous 500-yard free, after taking a time of 5:23.48. The boys continued to stay strong in their individual races. Ben Rogala had an outstanding meet placing second in the 50-yard free with an incredible time of 22.41. He also secured an impressive fourth-place finish in the 100-yard free, ending with a time of 50.08. 

“Both myself and the rest of the team did a great job pushing through this meet and achieving some best times even though we had a tough week of practices,” Ben said. “Next meet I want to break the 22.00-second mark in my 50-yard freestyle and I would also like to get the state cut in the 100 freestyle.”

Gavin Cai showed up ready to compete, he took fourteenth place out of fifty-eight athletes in the 50-yard free after earning a time of 23:76 along with a seventh place in the 100-yard breast with a time of 1:05.41. Lastly, Reed Dixon had an impressive performance in the 200-yard individual medley where he took sixth place with a time of 2:08.77 along with taking thirteenth place in the 100-yard back with a final time of 58.47.

“The 200 individual medley is the most challenging event for me because you use so many different muscle groups while having to keep pushing through strokes you may not like,” Reed said. “As I head back to practice I am hoping to improve my backstroke starts because I slipped on the wall at the start of the race.”

The boys completed the meet with 187 points, earning them seventh place out of ten teams. They will continue to work hard in practice as they prepare for their next meet which will be on Tuesday, January 10, at 6:00 p.m. at the Forest Hills Aquatic Center against Caledonia and Grand Rapids Catholic Central.