The State 4A girls swimming and diving meet at Federal Way on Nov. 14-15 put the girls swimming team through a series of highs and lows. A disqualification in the first preliminary race gave a rocky start to the performance that would earn them fourth overall, an individual state title, and Washington Swim Coach of the Year for head coach James Elwyn.

“This weekend was bittersweet; the girls responded well with adversity,” Elwyn said.

Sophomore Jessica Wierzbicki won a State title in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.19 seconds. She also took fifth in the individual medley with a time of 2:08.92.

“Jess had a good chance as anybody to win,” Elwyn said.

Only five points behind co-champions Richland and Jackson, the Panthers swam to a third- place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. The team consisted of freshman Jordan Hartley, sophomore Jessica Wierzbicki, and juniors Kayli Brown and Tori Peterson.

The 200 freestyle relay team of sophomore Isabelle Dressel, junior Victoria Peterson, junior Kayli Brown, and freshman Jordan Hartley finished second with 1:40.64. Dressel earned the silver in the 100 breaststroke as well.

This is the second year in a row that Elwyn received the Coach of the Year award. For this award, all the coaches in the league vote on the recipient.

On the diving board, junior Ali Brandt earned sixth.

Though, the Panthers may have not performed as well as they hoped, this does not crush their spirits for this year or the next.

“It could have happened to anybody. We just fought hard and made the best of it,” junior Kayli Elwyn said. “Next year we are gonna win State, enough said.”

Editor’s Note: Due to miscommunications during the editing process, this story is a week late. We apologize for the inconvenience.