Having girls place 16th in the backstroke, the 400 freestyle relay, and 5th in diving, the varsity girls swim team ended its season by going to the Division II state meet held at Oakland University on Nov. 20-21

“There were only five girls who qualified for states this year,” varsity swim coach Brad Jones said. “We had one diver, sophomore Taylor Shegos, and four swimmers, senior Bri Costigan, and juniors Elise Cassidy, Grace Siefker and Cam Mathews go to compete; Elise was in the 100 backstroke and all four swimmers in the relay.”

The girls qualified for the 400 freestyle relay and Cassidy in the 100 backstroke. Shegos qualified with her diving score.

“Going to the meet on the first day was a cool, but it didn’t feel different because I had gone to states, for the first day, the past two years as well,” Cassidy said. “I was able to go back for finals, which was on Saturday, in both the backstroke and the relay.”

In order to return for the finals, the girls had to race to finish in one of the top 16 spots. Cassidy made it in the backstroke, placing 15th, and the relay finished 13th. Shegos qualified to return by placing 6th.

“Elise making it back to finals was anticipated. Taylor going back was also anticipated,” Jones said. “The relay going back, I knew it was going to be, somewhat of a challenge, but they raced and dropped six seconds off of their qualifying seed time and it was able to make the mark for them.”

In the end, after competing in the consolation heat, Cassidy placed 16th in the backstroke with a time of 59.85. The relay also placed 16th with a time of 3:43.85. Shegos placed 5th, having scored 392.75 points after all 11 dives.

“Making it to states, year to year, is always the first goal for the girls. Once we go, the next goal is to make it back for finals, which they also did,” Jones said. “They competed in the consolation heat for both races. Now our goal for next year is to qualify for state, and then go back for the finals heat and compete for the ‘All State’ title.”