Over the past few months, swimmers competed in the district, regional and even state meets. The three meets were marked by rewarded teamwork and individual hard work, bringing joy to coaches and swimmers alike.

“Districts and regionals were great meets,” freshman Hayley Krebsbach said. “Just being with the team and seeing how well everyone does is a great feeling.”

The district meet, which was held on Jan. 25, was a unique experience for Mav swimmers. Along with the meet being delayed due to an ice storm, two relays became district champions and junior Ross Sullivan was named Swimmer of the Meet.

“It was really exciting to be recognized at districts,” Sullivan said. “It made me more excited for the regional meet.”

The regional meet was met with great competition and success. The Mavs competed as part of the fastest region in the state. Though many got close to advancing to the state meet, Sullivan and freshman Sutton Marvin swam fast enough to represent McNeil at the state meet.

“We got really close to making state last year,” Sullivan said. ”So this year we were redeeming ourselves.”

The two swimmer began the state meet ranked 14th in their events, but by the end of the meet, the two had set lifetime bests for themselves. Marvin moved up to 13th place and set a new school record for the 200 freestyle while Sullivan placed seventh in the “A” Final heat.

“I was really excited, especially because I wasn’t expecting to get to the top of ‘A’ meet as a junior,” Sullivan said. “After the swim that got me into finals, [coach Johnny] Foss gave me a big hug and told me how proud he was of me.”

The success at the district, regional, and state swim meets brought pride to the swim coaches. The  attendance of Maverick swimmers at the state competition was especially exciting to the coaches.

“If you know Ross and Sutton, you know how good of kids they are,” Foss said. “They have worked just as hard and deserve every bit of success they earned this season. Coach [Elisa] Chapa and I cannot express the pride we have for these two young student-athletes.”