The afternoon of Nov. 9 proved to be quite a good one for the girls swim team.
The perennially-dominant program didn’t just win their 11th sectional title in school history – they blew their competition out of the water, scoring 330 points, breaking five school records, winning nine of 12 total events and qualifying 14 entries for state.
Junior Scout Jackson had perhaps the best day of any Tiger, winning four events, setting two program records and qualifying for the Speedo Winter Junior Championships, which will take place Dec. 11-14 at the University of Texas at Austin.
“It kind of just felt unreal and like I was on cloud nine the whole day,” Jackson said. “Especially with people I didn’t even know congratulating me.”
Jackson said qualifying for the junior championships has been on her mind since last year’s state meet, and it dominated her thoughts during sectionals.
“I knew it was a crucial thing to qualify for if I want to swim at a great college,” she said. “This whole season, when I found myself wanting to give up, I told myself that I had to work hard to get this time standard. Throughout the whole meet, it was the only thing on my mind.”
Jackson’s 200-yard medley relay, which she swam with sophomore Reilly Curry, junior Grace Oertle and senior Karis Chen, broke the school record they set last season. Her 200-yard freestyle relay win, which she shared with Oertle, Chen and freshman Laine Curry, bested a 11-year-old benchmark.
“It was definitely on our radar to break those,” Jackson said. “We already held the medley relay record, but the 200 free relay record was a record we missed last season by less than .1 [second], so we knew this season would be our chance to break it.”
Laine Curry swam three races at sectionals that broke school records in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the 400-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard freestyle. She qualified for state in all three, winning the latter race with a 1:53.14 time, breaking a 9-year-old program record by nearly two seconds.
“It was a great feeling to know my coaches had faith in me to swim in two important relays as a freshman,” she said. “Even though when it came down to the pressure I had, they gave me every bit of confidence and knew I could do it.”
Coach Christian Rhoten told the Edwardsville Intelligencer that this sectional win might be the Tigers’ most successful, and, while the day ended with hoisting the sectional plaque, it began with senior McLaren Seaton’s winning the diving competition.
“It felt good coming in and setting the tone with a win,” Seaton said. “The energy was strong and continued to be carried out throughout the day.”
The team will head to the Nov. 15-16 state meet, which will be hosted near Chicago in Westmont.
“I’m a little nervous going forward,” Laine Curry said. “But I have total confidence that I will go out there and give it my all.”