Girls swim and dive placed third against a total of 11 teams at the Great Bend Invitational on April 27.

Manhattan High’s total of 389.5 points came in behind Great Bend placing first with a total score of 431 points, while McPherson came in second with a total score of 394 points.

“I swam the 50, 100, 200, and 400 free relay. I finally made the state cut in the 100 free, so that was nice. In all my other races I was just really tired,” junior Lauren Cassou said. “A lot of people were missing due to solo and ensemble [music contest] the next day. Even though we were missing some girls we still scored tons of points and did great as a team.”

They faced challenges such as lack of competitors and also a lot of teammates were sick.

“I competed in the 50 free and the 200 free relay. Personally I did well for my last meet but it wasn’t the best that I’ve done,” senior Lexi Beninom said. “Overall, I think the team did pretty well.”

As the season goes on the swimming team continues to push through and is preparing for their League meet next week.

“As a team I think this was a good meet for us. Overall we swam well, and had lots of fun,” Cassou said. “The next meet we have is league, and I think we’re all looking forward to it. Last year we took second to Washburn after being super close in scores. I think we could win League, but it would be a challenge.”

The diving team will start the Centennial League meet at 4 p.m. on Thursday in Topeka and the swimming team will have theirs on Friday.