By Emily Mlynarek ’14 | Feature Editor

After placing third at the Division Two State Championships for two consecutive years, the Girls Swimming and Diving team hopes to improve their standings at this year’s championship meet on Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23, head coach Eric Gunderson said.

 “We have great swims from our state qualifiers at the conference meet, and with their taper and their training all season, they are ready to swim fast,” said Gunderson.

Although the team is currently ranked 11th in the state behind its biggest competitors, Holland and Marian High Schools, Gunderson said he thinks they have a shot at beating this ranking.

 “I am hoping to get my goal times, personal bests, and hopefully help our team get a high ranking in the state,” said Alex Hughes ’17.

 This season, the number of underclassmen and upperclassmen competing in the State Championship meet is about equal, which is pretty outstanding, Gunderson said.

 “I think our two individual standouts, especially, are going to be Claire Young and Alex Hughes,” said Gunderson, “But I expect to see great swims from all of our qualifiers.”

Gunderson said he also hopes for swimmers to place in the top eight in their respective events and achieve All-State recognition.

 “I think everyone is going to have huge time drops if the atmosphere remains positive,” said Cassandra Morse ’14.

Preliminary races will take place on Friday, Nov. 22 and championship races will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Eastern Michigan University. Because the meet takes two days, the team traditionally travels together to the meet and has team bonding time between the two segments of the meet, Morse said.

“To relax and prepare for the championship, it’s a tradition to see a movie the night before finals,” said Morse. “It’s really fun and we all get to unwind after a day of races.”

 The team finished the regular season with a record of 10-3-1.

“I’m really proud of the way we’ve pushed through the ups and downs of the season and the way we’ve come together as a team,” said Young.