The swimmers in green and white consistently beat out numerous Wildcats in Tuesday’s Swim and Dive meet. Forest Hills Central defeated Northview 94.5-89.5, as the Lady Rangers move to 2-0 in conference matchups. In addition to the team’s usual top performers, sophomore Sarah Schenck had a big night, contributing two first-place finishes. Sarah contributes thier win to their preparations.

“Our coach has us practice a lot, in the morning and afternoon. We did a lot of dry land work this past week,” Sarah said.

Sarah claimed first place in both the 100 Butterfly and the 200 Freestyle events.

“She really stepped up and had a big meet,” said Head Swim Coach Dennis Neat. “We had a long stretch of just practices recently, so we’re starting to get back into a groove of racing again. It has kind of gotten away from us, but it was good to see the energy return and the girls get really excited tonight.”

FHC placed first in 11 of the 12 events swam at this meet. Individually, the Rangers were unbeatable. In addition to Sarah’s two first-place finishes, junior Jessica Schellenboom took first in both the 200 IM and the 500 Freestyle, while senior Felicity Buchmaier placed first in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. Freshman Olivia Hooper showed her speed, taking first in the 100 Backstroke, as well as freshman Emily Johnson taking first in the 100 Breaststroke. FHC also had five second-place, and eight third-place swimmers.

The Rangers did very well working as a team to score big points in the relays, securing two out of the top three spots in all of the events swam. They took second and third in the 200 Freestyle Relay, as well as taking first and third in both the 400 Freestyle Relay and the 200 Medley Relay.

“It was a really good meet team-wise, we were all cheering for each other,” says Jessica. “[We’re learning] how to really work together and work for each other.”

First and second places carried over to the divers last night, as senior Nicole Carlson placed second, with junior Anna Hansen taking first. The experience this team has is unprecedented and they have set high expectations for themselves.

“At practice we do a lot of repetition,” Nicole said. “Really, we just need to work on consistency with our dives. Our goal this year is to get top 3 at states, which I definitely think we can.”

The dive team is confident that they will remain successful and continue on the path to achieving their goal.

“Ultimately, conference champions,” Neat said when asked what the goals of the swim team are this season. “We’re on the way to achieving it; we’re 2-0. If we can’t be the champions, we can definitely make the champions work hard for it.”

This Saturday the Lady Rangers will compete in the Forest Hills Invitational against multiple opponents. They are very confident that they will have another strong showing and continue their success.

Neat likes to take it one day, practice, and meet at a time, while always staying optimistic.

“Every day is a work in progress, every day is a challenge. We’re just focusing on getting ready for the next meet.”