Walking up to the platform, junior Zac Jump can feel his heartbeat accelerating and the adrenaline causing his stomach to turn. He then hears “swimmers step up…place your hands and feet” followed by a ring telling him to spring into the water. Jump and other boys on the swim team swam in the county meet on Jan. 19, 20 and 21,  competing to determine how far they will go this season.

“I did very well dropping time in all events,” Jump said. “I made MISCA (Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coach Association) cuts in my 500 placing 2nd in the county and in my 200 placing 3rd in the county. I missed 2nd and 1st by very little time. My relay team and I also did very well, coming one second away from states which we are certain to accomplish soon.”

Those who swam well the first day ended up qualifying for Sunday’s finals. As a whole, the swim team obtained first, second and third in the 500 free and had three swimmers in the top five. In the end, they placed second place in the county out of 11 teams.

“We placed second right behind Grand Blanc,” Jump said. “They are such a big team, almost double in size, and a division one team but we still competed with them because they are in the county. Even though Grand Blanc has the mass, our team put up a good fight that put some fear in their eyes.”

Individual personal records and goals were also met this past weekend. Each team member worked towards qualifying for the upcoming MISCA competition. At MISCA, swimmers and divers have another chance to reach state cuts before the season ends.

“MISCA is a late season meet. Only people that make the qualifying times get to go and it is one of our fastest meets,” sophomore Joel Diccion said. “Some of the times you have to meet to qualify, for example, 1.00.99 in the 100 backstroke and 58.59 for the 100 fly. I qualified for those and the two relays I swam in. I made the cuts last year and this year. It is rewarding to see that the work I put in before high school helped me get there.”

The team continues to practice before and after school preparing for MISCA on Feb.11 at Eastern Michigan University. On March 9, being held at the same university, those that have qualifying times at MISCA will compete at States.