The annual Cougar Invitational brought eight swim teams from across the state under one roof for a day of tough competition.

Following a long day of racing at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, the City High girls had one task left: their final race- the 4×100 yard freestyle relay. The Little Hawks were ranked sixth out of the six teams in the final heat. Also competing was the West High ‘A’ team, ranked third. City High had yet to beat West in any relay this season and was hoping for this to be their first. Going into the final leg of the race, City trailed to West by under a body length, but thanks an outstanding final leg by Devan O’Rourke ‘17, City out-touched West by under a second, claiming relay victory over West, and a 4th place finish in the relay.

City High ended up finishing sixth out of the eight teams participating in the invitational overall. Other notable performances included Carly Weigel’s 5th place finish in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.17 and Andrea Adam’s second place finish in diving. Clara Froeschner ‘18 and Devan O’Rourke also went their season bests in the 100 yard breastroke and 500 yard freestyle respectively.

This invitational followed a disappointing loss to the highly-ranked West High girls’ swim team, although the team came closer to victory over the powerhouse this Tuesday than they have since Zane Hugo was hired as the new coach. The relatively young coach is in his third year at the helm of the program.

“I was cheering so hard that I gave myself a headache,” Adri McCall ‘19 said. “But I would do it again. No regrets.”

“It was exciting,” Captain O’Rourke said. “Every year we’re getting better, and this is the closest that we’ve been to West since I’ve been swimming.”