Jonathan Alder’s swim team took on Bellefontaine, Kenton Ridge, and various other schools January 25th for the CBC Championship. In the end, Alder made it out on top, winning the championship with a score of 258 and taking the lead by 66.
During sectionals on February 8th, Alder placed 4th, scoring 113 against schools such as Columbus Academy, Bishop Hartley, and Bexley. Everyone on the team, however, was able to qualify for the district meet on February 14th. These two major wins exemplify the effort our swimmers have given this season.
That all isn’t to say our swimmers haven’t had their struggles.
Junior Megan Ahner says, “I went through a mental block at the beginning of the season because I just wasn’t where I wanted to be at the time.” Junior Lily Schneider says that her biggest roadblock was getting pneumonia at the beginning of the season.
In the next invitational, Alderplaced 2nd, scoring 190, at the next meet we placed second again below Marysville, scoring 61 with Schneider once again won 4 gold medals. Later that month at the Chieftain Invite, our swimmers fought hard and ended in 3rd, scoring 43 points with both Schneider and senior Emily Wheelbarger ending in the top 5, both of them winning 2 gold medals.
Other swimmers, like sophomore Henry Drewes, met their block later in the season: “I was like worn out and sore about halfway through the season then I started getting sore every meet.”
At the first meet of January, Alder placed 3rd once more, scoring 73 at the Trojan meet, but in the next meet we fought back, scoring 418 (Bellefontaine came in second with 303) with Schneider having the best performance. Both Schneider and Wheelbarger came in the top 5 once more, along with Drewes and senior Ashton Kennedy in the top 5 Men.
Then came the CBC championships, which we dominated. Schneider, who says that the highlight of her season was “winning CBCs for the second year in a row,” scored 32 and won 3 gold medals. Schneiderwent on to win the best performance of the championship doing a 1:09:23 100 yard Breaststroke scoring 16.
After the championship we moved onto OHSAA Sectional where we faced schools renowned for their swimming expertise such as Columbus Academy and Bishop Hartley yet we still came through and placed 4th, scoring 113.
As the team looks forward to districts on Feb. 14, they have their sights set on success.
“I’m hoping that our relay makes it to states, and that everyone does well at districts,” says Schneider.
The key to success? According to Schneider, “Keeping in mind our goals and our progress and how far we’ve come.”
