This past weekend, on February 21st and 22nd, your Stratford High School Swim Team traveled with the Memorial Swim Team to the 6A State Meet, which took place at the University of Texas at Austin Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center.

The weather was cold, but the team was hot, and each swimmer gave their all in every race they swam! They left it all out in the pool. Every swimmer finaled in at least one event, which is not easy to do in Texas! The Stratford Swim Team would like to thank the Athletic Booster Club for all of their support and for helping us look good with our new State swim caps, which looked really sharp! Thank you too to Coach Rankin, Principal Barnes, and for all the support from SBISD Athletics on this very successful season. It was also good to see our friends at Memorial High School do well in their events. Swimmers from both Stratford and Memorial as well as several parents met up for a late BBQ lunch after finals.

Here are the highlights of the meet for Stratford. Complete official meet results can be found HERE.

GIRLS’ RELAYS

• The girls 200 yard free relay placed 7th in the state (1:36.20) with junior Sophia Giesecke (24.33), junior Molly Kate Minyard (24.24), senior Elle Burke (24.14), and senior Izzy Glover (23.49).
• The girls 400 yard free relay placed 13th in the state (3:34.61) with Glover (53.87), Minyard (54.81), Giesecke (53.12), and Burke (52.81).

BOYS’ RELAYS

• The boys 200 yard free relay placed 9th in the state (1:24.20) with junior Brock Hunter (21.14), senior Julian Hemmer (20.44), senior Marin Pavlin (21.38), and senior Ricky Conticello (21.24).
• The boys 200 yard medley relay finished 13th in the state (1:35.69) with sophomore Jack Robertson (back, 24.20), Conticello (breast, 26.52), Pavlin (fly, 22.84), and junior Vince Nguyen (free, 22.13).

The boys 400 yard free relay with Hunter, Hemmer, senior Nathan Moss, and junior James Hackney came in 6th at finals but unfortunately were disqualified for an early take-off.

Individually, we did great as well!

GIRLS’ INDIVIDUAL

• Giesecke finaled in both her individual events, finishing 8th in the state in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 56.26 and 13th in the state in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.70. She’ll be at state again next year, no doubt!
• Burke swam her last individual high school finals in the 100 yard backstroke, placing 16th in the state with a time of 57.86.
• Glover, also finishing up her high school career, placed 20th in the state in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 24.40.

BOYS’ INDIVIDUAL

• Hemmer finaled in the 100 yard freestyle and came in 9th in the state in his last individual high school swim with a time of 45.80. He was ahead most of the way and held the lead in the B final.
• Moss, also wrapping up his senior season, finaled in the 500 yard freestyle, finishing 11th in the state with a time of 4:33.87. He started out in 16th place and slowly overtook all but two swimmers in the B final. Moss also finished 19th in the state in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.10.
• Hunter finaled in the 50 yard freestyle, fighting his way to 11th in the state in the B final from lane 1 with a time of 20.79! Hunter will surely be looking for a state spot again next year as he continues to improve!

It has been a fantastic season, and all the athletes should be very proud! We will miss our seniors next year, but there is plenty of talent to keep the good times rolling! Thank you to our coaches Casandra Brisbin, Joseph McCommons, and Blocker Duncan (who turned 35 on Saturday!) for your dedication to our team! GO BIG GREEN!