The boys swim and dive team took on the Byron Center Bulldogs on Tuesday, February 8 at the Forest Hills Aquatic Center. The boys recognized Ben Rogala, Gavin Cai, and Isaac Stewart as they celebrated their senior night and last home meet. Unfortunately, the Rangers fell to the Bulldogs 81-102

The boys started the meet with the 200-yard medley relay. Sophomores Nolan Breckon and Logan Tiggleman, junior Dylan Pomeroy, and senior Ben Roglala made up the FHC-A team and placed second with a time of 1:46.41. Right behind them was the FHC-B team, which was made up of sophomore Sam Grant, juniors Jayden Doyel and Reed Dixon, and senior Gavin Cai who took third with a time of 1:50.67. Later on in the night, Jayden Doyel, Ben Rogala, Gavin Cai, and freshman Christain Afman brought the FHC-A 200-yard relay team to a third-place finish with a time of 1:41.89. Lastly, the FHC-A 400-yard free relay team made up of Reed Dixon, freshman Lucas Witham, sophomore Zach Ruffer, and senior Isaac Stewart secured a second-place finish with a time of 3:34.95.

“Byron center was a close meet and I would say for swimming we were evenly matched, but it is always hard to win without any diving points,” Isaac said. “We continue to struggle with our relays so I hope we can work on those more in practice to be ready for MISCA on Saturday.”

The Rangers then moved on to the individual events where Reed Dixon proved his talent. He took first place in the 200-yard individual medley by over eight seconds with a final time of 2:07.28. He later snagged another first-place finish in the 100-yard back where he ended with a final time of 55.73. Gavin Cai also had a stellar meet for his last home performance. He took second place in the 100-yard fly with a final time of 59.07. Along with that, he grabbed another second-place spot in the 100-yard breast with a final time of 1:09.12.

“Although I didn’t put up the best times, I am happy to have raced one last time at the Aquatic Center,” Gavin said. “My favorite part of the senior night was seeing all the pictures flash on the screen and watching myself grow up through them. It was kind of bittersweet. We also had a great student section turnout which was really fun and the support was amazing.”

As the meet dwindled down, the boys still continued to put up a fight. Isaac Stewart had a phenomenal performance in the 200-yard free where he earned first place with a time of 1:51.54. Along with that, he took second place in the 100-yard free with a final time of 50.48. Lastly, Ben Rogala finished the night strong with his two events. He took third place in the 100-yard free with a final time of 51.36 along with a second-place finish in the 50-yard free with a final time of 22.85.

“I am proud of our team’s many strong races and I could see that we gave it our all,” Isaac said. “I was surprised at the large and energetic student section we had compared to our other meets, it was by far the largest one of the season and it was cool to see all of the support.”

After an emotional senior night, the team will be sending some of its athletes to the MISCA invitational to compete against some of the best swimmers in the state. It will take place on Saturday, February 11, at 12:00 p.m. against multiple schools.