Senior Evan Stokes broke a school record and qualified for states during the WPIAL championship at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool last Thursday and Friday.
Senior Alayna Kercher, meanwhile, was the first member of the girls swim team to earn a spot at WPIALs in the past nine years.
“As a team, I feel like we all did really well” throughout the season, Kercher said. “For myself, it was definitely my best season because I qualified.”
Kercher praised Stokes and junior Spencer Maist for the records they set during the competition.
“Stokes broke the school 100m breaststroke record by a second. Spencer also set a personal best in the backstroke event,” Kercher said.
Senior Dylan Lubarski, who swam on the relay team, said the Highlanders had a strong performance in what was the season’s final competition for most of the swimmers.
“Our starts were good and we did a good job at not being late to get off the block. We also made sure to take breaths at the right points during the race,” Lubarski said.
Lubarski believes the team will have to work hard next season as many of its skilled swimmers are graduating this year.
“They need to have confidence in themselves. Next year will be harder because the team will lose a lot of swimmers who are graduating seniors and there will be fewer people for the relay,” Lubarski said. “Next year they should work on getting times down to secure spots in WPIALs.”
Stokes will compete for states at Bucknell University on March 14.
