Despite having a “second” winter break, student athletes still remain focused on their seasons. Although some regular seasons have come to a close, the teams are not finished; they now have districts. The Swim and Dive team is the only sport to have completed districts thus far. However, like school, it was affected by the snow.

“The preliminaries scheduled for Friday [Jan. 28] were cancelled due to snow,” sophomore Andrew Boyd said. This meant that all 32 swimmers in each event swam Jan. 29, prolonging the meet.

“Although the meet lasted from 4 to 11 p.m., people were fine with the fact that pre-lims had been cancelled,” sophomore Meghan Lynn said.

Without the snow, the preliminaries on Friday would have brought the number from 32 swimmers an event to the 16 in each event that would go to the final round of districts.

The past week only swimmers and divers that made it to districts had practice. The swimmers and divers that were chosen for districts continued the AHS Swim and Dive tradition of dyed hair. Girls dyed the tips of their hair red while the boys bleached theirs. Despite the fact that some swimmers didn’t make it to districts they still went to the meet and supported their team.

“It was really spirited; everyone did a great job and most people dropped time,” sophomore Tessa Iglesias said.

Only the top six in each event move on to the next round: regionals. Seniors Anna Smith, Lauren Bernard, Kelsey Price, Ryan Keck and Kyle Tyrell all made it to regionals for their swim events. Other swimmers include juniors Adam Wattenbarger and Willie Labarca, and sophomores Daniel Jessen, Jenny Jessen and Becky Burke. Kyle Tyrell also made state cuts for his 100-meter back and 100-meter fly. Juniors Paige Blennerhasset and Alli Vogus and sophomore Clark Girardin made it to regionals for diving. Junior Pat McCann placed second in boys dive and qualified for states.

Although the majority of the Swim and Dive team is finished with their season, some have a long road ahead. Other sports, like indoor track are just starting districts. Their regular season is over and the preparation for districts is underway. Basketball districts start in two weeks and wrestling’s are quickly approaching. As winter sports come to a close, it is still important for students to continue to come out, show their school spirit and support their classmates. Who knows, maybe we will get a few new banners for our gym.