On March 3 and 4, the FCHS swim and dive team traveled to SwimRVA and the Hampton Aquaplex for their state championship meets. In total, 14 athletes were on their way to the biggest championship of the season. All members of the dive team and 10 athletes on the swim team qualified in either individual events or relays.

The dive team started off the championship meet in Hampton with sophomores Kayleigh Herring placing 3rd, Cash Johnson placing 4th. James Johnson placing 6th, and Tony Myrsten placing 10th.

“The state experience was awesome. I got to meet a lot of new people and build a lot of new bonds,” Johnson said.

The swim team also left its mark at the state meet by breaking multiple school records. Senior Alex Fuller became a double-state champ in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. She broke the school record in both events, and her times earned her the All-American cuts.

“Being state champion felt very surreal,” said Fuller. This is the first time in recent FCHS history that a student-athlete has been a state champion in two events in one day.

“Alex is a top-notch student-athlete. Her performance was truly incredible and not something accomplished around here very often… double state champ. I could not be prouder of that young lady,” said Swim Coach Mitchell Pace.

Three people made it to the state meet in individual events, including freshmen Abby Caruso and Levi Rensch. Caruso placed 13th overall in the 100-yard freestyle with a new personal record.

“I am very proud of my accomplishments in this meet since I am starting to come back to how I was swimming before my injury, and since all events I participated in placed in the top 16,” Caruso noted.

As for Rensch, he placed 16th in the 500-yard freestyle, and accomplished a new personal record.

In relays, the girls swim team competed in all three relays during the meet. During the preliminaries, team alternates Maya Hernandez and Annika Potter stepped up to help the medley relay qualify for B finals.

Meanwhile, the team also qualified for A finals in the 400 and 200 free relays. The 400 free relay team of Fuller, Caruso, Madison Clark, and Sophie Pace broke the school record in the preliminary race, and broke their own record again during finals with a time of 3:49.83. Both the 400 and 200 free relay teams placed 5th overall in the state.

“I was shocked that we broke [the school record]. It felt really nice to be a part of the relay team,” said sophomore Madison Clark.

With outstanding scores, the girls team placed 6th overall, and the mens team placed 17th.

“I’m absolutely very proud of them. It’s an honor to coach so many wonderful young men and women, and seeing their success is icing on the cake,” said Coach Pace.