On Saturday, January 4th, the HHS Freshman swim and dive team made their way to Scott High School to compete at Freshman Regionals. The team had set high expectations for their season and decided to finish it with an ambitious effort.

Both girls and boys swim teams started strong for all the events they embarked on. The 200 Medley Relay went successfully with the boys swim team as they finished 1st place. These relay members included freshmen Sam Hopper, Matt Herfel, Charlie Banks and Evan Jones. Following this strong start, during the Girls 200 Freestyle, Belle Bryant placed 4th place along with Logan Holbrook finishing 3rd overall in the Boys 200-Freestyle event. After this challenging event, in the Boys 200 Individual Medley, the boys were able to hold their own. During the Boys 200 Individual Medley, Matt Herfel was able to finish in 1st place and following him was Sam Hopper who came in 3rd place. Bode Russell finished in 2nd place in the Boys 50 Freestyle with this being his second event of the meet. With another event underway, the Boys 100 Butterfly consisted of Adam Pawlak, who finished in 1st place with Charlie Banks coming in behind as runner-up. Logan Holbrook placed 3rd in the Boys 100 freestyle. In the Girls 500 freestyle Belle Bryant placed 4th. In the Boys 500 freestyle, Evan Jones placed 1st and Adam Pawlak placed 3rd. Logan Holbrook, Bode Russell, Evan Jones, and Adam Pawlak took 1st place during the Boys 200 Freestyle Relay. Sam Hopper was runner up in the Boys 100 backstroke. In the Boys 100-Breaststroke, Matt Herfel placed 1st. Lastly, the boys swim team finished Regionals with a 1st place win in the 400 Freestyle Relay, who included Adam Pawlak, Sam Hopper, Charlie Banks, and Matt Herfel.

Freshman and varsity swimmer, Belle Bryant, exclaims how pleased she was with how the season went this year and can’t wait for further opportunities in the future. “Overall the season went really well. I’m excited to see how we will perform and will do next year,” Bryant stated

For girls diving, Cici Murphy placed 3rd out of 15 girls she competed against and Lydia Richter ranked 5th overall in the same event. Leading the freshman boys team was Robert Arnberg, who placed 2nd out of 15 boys overall. Following Arnberg was Owen Rogiers, who finished 3rd out of those 15 competing.

Overall, there were 7 first-place finishes at Freshman Regionals. The Boys Team came out with a 1st place win with a team score of 497 points. Unfortunately, the girls fell short placing 6th overall as a team but had a great season altogether. Furthermore, as a combined team, Highlands altogether score was 670, placing them 2nd overall with tough competition ahead of them.

Heading out with a great season record, the freshman swim and dive teams have a lot to be proud of. Don’t forget to come and support the Varsity and JV swim and dive team at the Scott Eagle Swim and Dive Classic at Scott HS this Saturday at 10:00 A.M.