Looking forward to state ahead, boys swimming won against Maine South on Friday, Feb. 3.

The meet was a good test for the team as they approached the end of their season. The team was able to win and swimmers were able to try out events they usually do not compete in. This meet gave them a chance to improve themselves as swimmers.

Junior Ean Vandergraaf explained how the meet was a good experience for the team because many of the swimmers had already started resting for the upcoming championship meets. “The meet was good for us because it was a good indicator for the end of the season,” he said.

Also, some of the swimmers swam in the events they will be swimming in at the state meet. Many of the swimmers took this opportunity to tweak their techniques before the championship.

Before the meet, Coach Josh Runkle said, “As far as the Maine South meet, we really don’t have much of a specific focus. Some guys will be swimming the events they will swim at their championship meet and fine tune things while others will be swimming in some off-type events.”

Although the team won, the swimmers still felt they could have done better and are looking for ways to improve before the bigger meets.

Sophomore Topher Shepherd said “Even though we won and we are proud of that, we take swimming well much more seriously than winning.”

The swim team now had a good season so far and as they finished the conference and headed to state, they looked to make their swimming as good as possible.

There have been good individual performances and improvements along the way. The team focusesd on improving the little things to give them the best score possible.

These skills included starts, turns, and finishes. Also, individual events have different strategies that each swimmer takes the time to improve on their own.

Junior Charlie Morgan said, “I think our improvements both in and out of the pool are really starting to show, and both our times and our maturity reflect that of a team that wants to win a state championship.”

The team doesn’t only focus on improving their swimming, but also motivating each other. Vandergraaf said, “I think as a team we have improved the most by getting up and cheering for each other. It gets hard during long meets to get up and just scream, but we have figured out that you can really get a guy going just by screaming as loud as you can.”

Shepherd agreed that the team has grown in more ways than one.

“The team has improved immensely. We have not only grown a lot as swimmers, but we have grown a lot as people, mostly due to our coach.”

Runkle said, “The team improved from the start of the season.  As swimmers developed, they put themselves in a position to help the team.”

Runkle said “Our goals are the same as always. We want to finish off the conference season and defend our title.  After that, we want to compete at the highest level  and put ourselves in a spot to win the State meet.”

Saturday, Feb. 11 is the team’s CSL conference meet, which will take place at Niles West. The Trevians will be competing against Niles West, Evanston, Glenbrook South, Maine South and Niles North.

As the comes to an end , the team and coaches have many goals they would like to accomplish. Charlie Morgan thinks the team will be competitive. “My goal for the rest of the season is to do everything I can to get my team to be in the best position possible to achieve what everyone knows this team is capable of,” he said.

“Through all the blood sweat and tears, the season has been great. The past few months, I have seen my teammates more than my family and it’s great to be a part of this team.” said Shepherd.