The boys swim and dive team had its first conference meet of the season last night, January 18, against the Northview Wildcats. Despite the boys’ loss of 74-107, they had some stand-out races.

The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay where two Ranger teams placed in second and third place. Sophomores Nolan Breckon, Logan Tiggleman, Sam Grant, and junior Dylan Pomeroy finished the race with a time of 1:51.40, securing them a third-place spot. Junior Reed Dixon and seniors Gavin Cai, Ben Rogala, and Isaac Stewart all put their best efforts forward and were able to secure the second-place spot with a time of 1:44.11. The relays continued later in the meet with the 200-yard free relay. Freshman Lucas Witham, Sam Grant, Dylan Pomeroy, and Gavin Cai all completed their races with a time of 1:38.33 which led them to take third place.

The Rangers had some great runs in the individual races. Lucas Witham took second place in the 200-yard free with a time of 1:54.63 along with the 500-yard free ending with a fantastic time of 5:20.16. Reed Dixon continued to show how crucial he is to the team after placing second in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard back.

“The energy in the meet was pretty good compared to the other meets, people cheered louder in the audience which was nice,” Reed said. “I was proud of my 100-yard back because it is a season-best so far.”

The boys continued to stay positive as they competed in their individual races. Isaac Stewart had a solid race in the 100-yard free where he earned second place with a time of 51.56 and also earned a MISCA cut. He also took first place in an extremely tight 50-yard free race where he ended with a time of 23.56. Following directly behind Isaac was Ben Rogala who ended with a time of 23.66. Ben also had an amazing run in the 100-yard free where he finished third with a time of 52.80.

“The team has been doing very well cheering on and encouraging others both at the meets and practices and this camaraderie has been really cool to see,” Isaac said. “One thing I would like to see would be to finish our races strong and not get toughed out at the finish.”

The boys look forward to their next conference meet against Forest Hills Northern on January 24 at 6:00 p.m. at the Forest Hills Aquatic Center