City High Girls Swimming Places Eighth at State Meet
November 11, 2019
It was state, the final meet of the high school swim season. The screaming roar of the crowd filled the pool as the girls on the 200-yard medley relay walked out holding hands. One team at a time, they strode by the bleachers packed with family members and friends alike until they ended up behind the blocks. With a loud beep the race began.
“Where it felt like regionals was pretty relaxed in comparison to other championship meets. State is definitely super hyped-up,” Trinity Sadecky ‘20 said. “It’s very loud with everyone screaming and it’s a fast meet. You know everyone worked incredibly hard to get here and we’re all giving the best we got.”
The medley relay of Carly Weigel ‘20, Olivia Masterson ‘20, Sadecky, and Rika Yahashiri ‘21 placed fourth in the state with a time of 1:46.76. Overall, City High ended up placing eighth, with 114 points, the highest state ranking of any fall sports teams at City.
“I thought my races went better the second time around [during finals],” Sadecky said. “I just went after it because it was the last race of my high school career and I wanted to go out with a bang.”
The meet was held at a YMCA in Marshalltown, with preliminary rounds Friday night and finals of the top 16 girls in each individual event, as well as relays on Saturday. Diving was Friday morning, but no divers from City went to the meet.
Masterson placed eighth in the 100 butterfly with a finals time of 57.98 and third in the 100 breaststroke with a finals time of 1:04.10. Weigel placed third in the 100 freestyle with a finals time of 52.17 and sixth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.35, re-establishing her school record with the new time.
“I like the 100 breaststroke because it’s a fast race and it’s over quickly,” Masterson said. “I do it a lot and it’s probably my favorite race, I can get into the pace more easily [than the 200 breaststroke].”
Averi Loria ‘22 swam at the state meet for the first time since she had a shoulder injury her freshman year and was unable to swim. She started the 400 freestyle relay.
“There were some many more people [than at other meets] and it was just a lot more exciting because everyone was cheering and it was super loud,” Loria said. “I was excited but also nervous walking out because it felt like everyone was watching.”
The 400 freestyle relay of Loria, Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ‘21, Julianne Berry-Stoelzle ‘21, and Grace Campion ‘22 ended up in 31st place with a time of 3:45.49. The 200 freestyle relay of Weigel, Masterson, Yahashiri, and Sadecky placed 7th with a time of 1:38.55.
“State was amazing. I’m just sad that it’s the last high school meet I’ll be at for the next almost 10 months,” Yahashiri said. “I’m going to miss my senior buddies!”
