Eaton makes splash at state

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Rylee Daniels pulls ahead of her competitor in the 100 yard butterfly

Rylee Daniels (18) led the Eaton girls swim team in an impressive showing at the State championship over the Feb. 8 weekend. Daniels, Mikeldi Lewis (18)  Mckenna McGehee (19), Kaitlyn Maker (18) and Courtney Parsons (18) placed in events such as 50 yard freestyle, one meter diving, 100 yard butterfly, 200 yard freestyle relay, and 100 yard breaststroke. Which led to five placings overall and Eaton ranking  at 17 out of 26.

Rylee Daniels  had an extremely impressive showing as she placed in three different events; one as a team relay but the others as individual events. Daniels said, “I’m preparing myself to move onto the next level, which is competing in swimming at the college level.” In the 50-yard freestyle she finished fourth out of sixteen with a time of 24.62. Daniels also received fourth in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 59.40 and 14th in the 200 yard freestyle relay with teammates Mckenna McGehee, Kaitlyn Maker and Courtney Parsons. After her showing Daniels said, “It felt absolutely amazing because it was the result of all of the hard work that I have put in throughout the years.”

Maker also had her own successes as she got 14th in the 100 yard breaststroke and was part of the 200 yard freestyle relay. Mikeldi Lewis (18) also showed off her diving skills as she finished 8th in the 1 meter diving with a score of 361.90. Parsons contributed to the 200 yard freestyle relay as well. Parsons said, “Since it was my fourth time at state it wasn’t as nerve-racking which made it easier to compete.” The long season finally came to an end for the girls swim team after the championship. Hattie Carlson, coach of the girls swim team, said, “I was really happy with the season, overall we had a lot of good competition and the girls pulled through, placed high, won meets and did really well at state.”