Sophomore Abby Yakam surges through the pool. Riley Hennessy’20/Media
The Aqua Vikes reached the culmination of their season from February 21-Friday 23, with standout state meet performances.
Senior Esther Lawrence and junior Jordan Skilken—first to represent the Vikes in Canton—dove in the one meter competition. Both girls left districts owning the top two spots and were ready for greater competition. Skilken and Lawrence consistently placed in the top four divers in prelims and semi-finals. In the finals, Skilken claimed state runner-up with 452.45 points, and Lawrence finished two spots behind her in fourth with 448.7 points.
Senior Jane Li, junior Samantha Kass, and sophomores Abby Yakam and Whitney Hannallah outdid themselves in the 200 medley relay. The girls swam a season best at districts and continued to lose time at states. They not only shaved off milliseconds in prelims, but also shed more time in finals. The girls finished in eleventh with a time of 1:50.22.
Kass swam with the same vigor in the 50 and 100 free that she demonstrated in the 200 medley relay. Coming in hot off the 50 free prelims, she set a new personal record and finished in fifteenth in the finals with a time of 24.66. Kass also earned sixteenth in the 100 free in 53.85 seconds.
Fellow junior, Sarah Cabre, swam individually in the 100 butterfly and 200 free. Although Cabre did not make it to finals in the 100 butterfly, she broke her personal record in prelims. In the 200 free, Cabre advanced to finals and finished fifteenth in the state with a time of 1:55.65.
Yakam also made an individual appearance in the 100 breast where she swam a time of 1:07.85 in prelims.
Cabre, Li, Kass, and sophomore Annalise Grammel capped off the state meet for the Vikes with their swim in the 400 free relay. The team took the pool with power in prelims and set a season best. In the final round, the girls snatched eighth with a time of 3:39.72.
The Aqua Vikes finished in phenomenal standing and took twelfth in the state out of more than fifty teams.
