Girls swimming placed 19th out of 37 at state on May 19-20.

After nine long practices a week, eight girls had the chance to compete in Topeka. The girls who attended state were Porsche Mahakijkittichai and Kianna Skinner, freshmen; Addy Bray, sophomore; Sarah Buehler and Ashton Reno, juniors; Anne Augustyn, Cinnamon Derrick, and Annika Highstrom, seniors.

“To train for state we had morning practices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:30-7 a.m., after school every day for two hours and on 2.5 hours Saturdays,” Buehler said.

Many girls placed at state. For the relays, Buehler, Skinner, Highstrom and Augustyn placed 15th in the 200 relay; Bray, Skinner, Highstrom and Augustyn placed 13th in the 200 medley; Bray, Skinner, Highstrom and Augustyn placed 18th in the 400 free relay.

As individuals. Augustyn placed 12th in the 50 free stroke; Bray placed 14th in the 100 back stroke; Skinner placed 11th in the breast stroke; Mahakijkittichai placed 20th in diving and Derrick placed 12th.

“The hardest thing about state was trying to stay motivated and confident when the other teams were so fast, but I think we did a good job,” Buehler said.