Two Wenatchee High School swimmers broke school records and the team earned the district title at the Big 9 district meet hosted in Moses Lake last weekend.

The top three placers in each event will move on to compete at State. Nine individual WHS swim and dive athletes and three swim relays qualified during districts for the State Championship 4A Meet, which will be held at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way on Nov. 13-14. This one of the biggest WHS State groups of all time, according to head coach James Elwyn. Junior Jessica Wierzbicki broke the school record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.27, and sophomore Hannah VanHeyningen broke the school record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:13.28. The Panthers placed in the top three of every event during the meet.

All three WHS relays placed first in their races. Senior Kayli Elwyn, junior Rebecca Bay, sophomore Kailie Wulf, and junior Isabelle Dressel had a time of 1:51.15 in the 200-yard medley team; freshman Hadassah Lurbur, senior Victoria Peterson, senior Kayli Brown, and VanHeyningen had a time of 1:40.44 in the 200-yard freestyle relay; and sophomore Jordan Hartley, Brown, Bay, and VanHeyningen had a time of 3:40.84 in the 400-yard freestyle race.

The following eight WHS swimmers qualified for State during the finals meet in individual races: Bay (200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke), Dressel (50-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke), Elwyn (200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke), sophomore Jordan Hartley (500-yard freestyle),  Audrey Parrish (50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle), Peterson (100-yard freestyle), VanHeyningen (200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle), and junior Jessica Wierzbicki (100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke).

Senior Ali Brandt earned 450.10 points in the diving finals, placing second behind Richland swimmer Kelsea Hinkley who earned 453.35 points. Brandt will continue on to State.