After knocking off defending state champion Highland Park in the district meet, the swim and dive team sets its sights on this week’s regional round.
The diving portion of the meet will occur today at 5 p.m. The swimming prelims will commence tomorrow at 12 p.m., and the swimming finals will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The team managed to qualify 30 individuals and six relays at the district meet. Head coach Matt Franks commented on taking the next step at the regional level.
“[Junior diver] Ana Laura Faoro has a great shot at making state, which would be a great boost to our entire team,” Franks said. “From there, we want to take care of business and get as many of our qualifying swims into the top 16 in their events to make sure that we get swims on Saturday, where we score points as a team. The more swims we can get into the top eight on Friday, the better the chances we have of getting swims, both individual and relays, to qualify for state.”
Faoro, who won the district diving competition by 90 points, said she is still focused on making certain improvements to her game for the regional round.
“I’ve been working on polishing the little details to get any extra points I can,” Faoro said. “I will be facing a girl from Grapevine who beat me by four points last year. I really want to come in strong and see if I can catch her this time.”
Sophomore swimmer Jackson Willard explained that the swim team should emphasize the more significant phases of the meet.
“Points scored on relays are doubled, so we need to focus on relays if we want to get as many swims as we can from the preliminary round to the finals,” Willard said.
Senior James Vaughn said he gave the team a motivational speech to prepare for the regional meet.
“I have a feeling that we are going to be a huge threat to Frisco Wakeland and Highland Park again,” Vaughn said. “We just have to stay on top of things and be ready to swim.”
