Swim team advances relays, sophomore to state

Coach Kari Osborne and principal Michael Wahl celebrate with swimmers advancing to state after medaling Saturday at the region meet.

Courtesy of Kari Osborne

Coach Kari Osborne and principal Michael Wahl celebrate with swimmers advancing to state after medaling Saturday at the region meet.

Zach Dimmitt, Staff Writer

The swim team displayed its ability to dominate in the parallel lane Friday and Saturday as it had multiple top three finishes in relay events and singles. Taking in account all of the events, the team finished fifth overall out of 26 total teams.

Although some of the events did not end in favor of the Rangers, Coaches Cari Osborne and Curtis Herring said they proud of the way their team persisted throughout the weekend.

“Our Rangers had a great weekend at regionals,” Osborne said. “(The weekend) had quite a few highs and lows all wrapped into one.”

The performance by sophomore Konnor Klinksiek helped rally the Rangers to a first and second place finish in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle respectively, which propelled him to place as a state qualifier. Klinksiek also participated in the 200 boys free relay, which also placed first for state qualifiers.

“We are proud to report that our fight to the finish helped our 200 free relay teams advanced to State competition in two weeks!” Osborne said.

The girls 200 meter relay team, including juniors Caitie Mansker and Avery Wilson and seniors Valerie Howell and Hailey Webster, placed second and advanced to state.

Regional finalists include:

200 Medley Relay Girls -5th place (Ca. Mansker, A Wilson, V Howell, H Webster)

200 Medley Relay Boys – 5th place (Co Mansker, S Besch, Joe Hunt, K Klinksiek)

400 Free Relay Girls- 7th place (Mackenzie Hamlett, Julia Weatherford, Madi Dean -Von Stultz, Cami Collazo)

400 Free Relay Boys- 13th place (Shaun Besch, Cale Farnsworth, Chris Mickelson, Kendal Peter)

200 Free- 9th Mackenzie Hamlett

             15th Joe Hnt

200 IM- 14th Chris Mickelson

50 Free – 4th Caitie Mansker

            12th Hailey Webster

100 Fly- 5th Cole Mansker

             12th- Cale Farnsworth

             13th- Jacquelyne Howell

100 Free- 5th Caitie Mansker

              6th Valerie Howell

              11th Hailey Webster

              12th Avery Wilson

              13th Ian Ogrodnik

500 Free- 4th Mackenzie Hamlett

100 Back- 9th Avery Wilson

               9th Joe Hunt

               11th Ian Ogrodnik

              14th Julia Weatherford

100 Breast- 6th Valerie Howell

                 14th Shaun Besch

The State Meet will be held on February 17-18 at the UT Swim Center in Austin

Prelims on Friday will begin at 10 AM, Finals on Saturday begin at 9:30 AM