Mission accomplished for the Pen High Lakers swim team.
Looking to be among the top 10 of the 2013 BCSS high school provincials in Richmond last weekend, the school placed ninth as the boys finished fifth overall, while the girls were 10th.
“The swimmers had a great meet,” said Lakers coach Tina Hoeben.
KVR was in a five-way tie for 54th out of 124 schools, which Hoeben said isn’t bad considering Grade 8 students compete against Grade 12s. In the relays events, the girls entered the 200-metre medley ranked eighth and finished sixth.
For the 4 x 100, the girls came in fourth, with the KVR girls right behind in fifth and the Laker boys came sixth with Riley Wall swimming a 58.8 for his 100 and the second Laker team finished eighth. In the 200-m free relay, the Laker girls finished fourth.
Hoeben said Matthew Koster had a strong performance in the 100-m back. He was ranked 20th when entered and bumped up to 13th.
Travis Doroshuk and Jaren LeFranc swam the 50-m breast stroke and finished 10th and 12th respectively. Sam Lasinski was 14th in the 100-m breast stroke and jumped from 13th to 10th in the 100-m fly. Payton Nackoney entered the 100-m fly at 15th and finished 11th in the consolations. Reilly Rowland improved from 15th to 11th in the 200 IM.
“At almost any opportunity, the swimmers swam their best and moved up on their original placings,” said Hoeben. “I have to say that I’m really proud of them. Top 10 was their goal, but it wasn’t easy.”
Swimmers also stepped up to perform their best as they were late in arriving for warm-ups due to a traffic delay.
Hoeben said the calibre of athletes at the meet was high as there were some fast times. With the Lakers having a young team, she foresees continued improvement.