On Tuesday, December 8, the varsity swim team dove in for their third meet of the 2020-2021 season against a combination of all three Elkhorn schools. 

The boys team came into the meet 1-0 after a close win against Westside at a virtual meet on Thursday December 3, with a score of 98-87, while the girls team took a tough loss also against Westside 133-53. The Wildcats really showed off their speed at the unscored quad meet on Saturday, December 5, against Millard North, Millard South and a combination of Papillion La Vista and Papillion La Vista South. 

This meet was once again a virtual meet in which both schools compete at their own schools and compare results afterwards. COVID restrictions are the main talking points going into these meets. Virtual meets are the only times fans are allowed and All swimmers must wear masks unless they are in the water.

“The swimmers were able to step up individually and race solely themselves, most of them did very well,” assistant coach Colleen Deacon said. “Coaching itself hasn’t been affected much by the new COVID protocols. Showing up every day and being here for these swimmers, working on technique and making them better athletes, that’s always going to be the same.”

The boys team started off with the 200 Medley Relay taking second place with a time of 1:48.60, swimmers that participated were seniors Dylan Fucik, Seth Witkowski, Tanner Klahn and Andrew Kenny. Freshman JJ Robinson placed third in the 200 Freestyle, and freshmen Quentin Nelson and Carter Heaton placed second and third in the 200 IM. Kenny returned with another big swim and took the top spot in the 50 Freestyle. Elkhorn dominated the next two events placing top three in the 100 Butterfly and the 100 Freestyle. Fucik won another event for the Wildcats with a time of 5:36.91 in the 500 Freestyle. The boys 200 Freestyle Relay took the runner-up spot once again with Kenny, Nelson, Fucik and Klahn returning. Kenny continued to dominate with a second place finish in the 100 Backstroke. To finish it off Elkhorn dominated the last two event once again and the meet ends in an Elkhorn win 

“We tried to race as well as we could, especially with the virtual meet and having no one next to you to race against,” Klahn said. “With our young team, the upperclassmen are going to try to set a good example for them and help them learn throughout the season. All of our seniors have been through this for almost four years and are all great leaders.”

The girls also faced off against Elkhorn that night. The girls took third in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 2:05.15, consisting of seniors Isabelle Berlin, Emily Benjamin, Sydney Rangeloff and Mia Olson. The next top three finisher was Olson, who took third place in the 50 Freestyle with a 26.57. Olson takes back to back third place finishes in the 100 fly with a time of 1:08.80. The girls relay takes second place again with seniors Berlin, Valentina Quintana, Aubri Hukill, and Olson. To finish it off, the 400 Free Relay placed in third with a time of 4:15.23, swimming in this relay was Hukill, Quintana, junior Aliah Rhoades and freshman Thea Kutash. The girls meet also ended with an Elkhorn win and drop to 0-2.

“The girls team did better than we did the first two meets,” Olson said. “There was a lot more positivity going around, as girls were getting better times and better swims. The younger freshman having had a bit more experience definitely helped their swims and are growing more and more each week as swimmers.”

Both these teams add losses to their records as they prepare for many meets still to come. Make sure you catch these swimmers at their third meet of the season against the Millard North Mustangs on Tuesday, December 15.