The Manhattan High girls swim took first place with a score of 436 at the Great Bend meet last Friday.

“It was a tough meet for us but we were able to take first as a team,” coach Alexander Brown said.

In the 200-yard individual medley, freshman Ruth Perez placed first; in the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Paige Chauncey placed third. In the 100-yard butterfly sophomore Sophia Steffensmeier placed first and senior Talia Francois placed third. In the 100-yard freestyle, senior Sydney Hicks placed third. In the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Audrey Conley placed third; in the 100-yard breaststroke, Perez placed first. In the 50-yard freestyle, Steffensmeier placed second. In the 500-yard freestyle, Francois placed first.

In the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Francois, Perez, Steffensmeier and Hicks placed first and in the 400-yard freestyle relay the team also placed first.

“We’ve gotten better at our individual times, which adds up to [a] better time overall,” Francois said, “We’re having more fun, people have really gotten to know each other [as well].”

As the end of the season nears, the swimmers are preparing for State, [and] hoping to qualify.

“My goal is to make State in an individual event,” Francois said, “I think we can win League this year, [it] would be really fun. We won League [my] sophomore and so we hope to win it again.”