SWIMMING TEAM WINS TWO STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Heading into the State swim meet held this past Valentine’s Day, the Rams knew they had a fast team this year. Now, they have the hardware to prove it.
During the meet, Roberson brought home two individual championships, a 3rd place finish in the Women’s 200 Medley Relay and finished in 5th place overall.
Senior Alyssa Arwood and sophomore Mary-O Soule won state championships in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard butterfly, respectively. Arwood’s winning time also set a new state record.
As the members of the Roberson swim team awaited the results of the Women’s 200 medley relay, the overall feeling was one of anticipation and excitement.
“I was hoping that they would do as well as they did, but I was not expecting it. They did an extremely, extremely good job,” swim coach Jim Cottam said.
The relay team, consisting of Arwood, sophomores Soule and Camille Long, and freshman Anna Newnam, placed third, the best that the team has ever done at the 4A NCHSAA state meet.
Additionally, Arwood received an automatic All-American qualifying time, meaning that she was designated as one of the Top 100 swimmers in the country. The 200-yard medley relay team and Soule’s time in the 100-yard butterfly also received All-American consideration times, which will be submitted to see if they place within the Top 100 nationwide in each event.
Assistant Swim Coach Katherine Grainger believed that the team had a good chance for success going into the meet, but was thrilled with how all of the swimmers competed.
“We knew that Alyssa was going to do well because she was the national champion last year at the YMCA Nationals in the breaststroke, and we were very excited that she broke the state record. Mary-O also had a really good season as well, so it wasn’t really a shock that she did so well. Still, we were super proud of her. Anna did really good at state for a freshman. Thirteenth in the 100-yard butterfly in under a minute is really good,” Grainger said.
After placing 2nd in the 100-yard breaststroke and 3rd in the 50-yard freestyle at the state championship last year, Arwood felt prepared and focused for this year’s final meet.
“I had in my mind what I was going for. In preliminaries, I was two-hundredths of a second off of the state record. That night I knew I was shooting for it and was very fired up,” Arwood said.
Over the course of the season, the Roberson swim team has broken all but two school records, with half of those broken during the regular season. According toteam’s success.
“We had an incredible crew of swimmers, and I definitely knew the potential was there this season to break the records. So, it was not a total shock,” he said.
Grainger feels that an additional advantage for the team, both this year and for the future, was a strong group of younger athletes.
“On our relay team, we only had one upperclassman. It is rare that most of our relay team is this young. It will be bad to loose Alyssa and the other seniors, but hopefully we will have more strong girls coming up next year,” Grainger said.
Cottam also looks forward to future accomplishments, from both the girl’s and boys’ teams.
“It will be tough to lose the group of seniors that we have, but somehow, someway, the younger swimmers always seem to figure out a way to step up. The boys’ team was heartbreakingly close to making it to state this year, and we have some really strong younger guys as well. It will be exciting to watch over the next few years, and it gives us something to work for,” Cottam said.
The boys ended the regular season this year with a 10-2 record, and the girls finished with a regular season tally of 10-1-1.
During the meet, Roberson brought home two individual championships, a 3rd place finish in the Women’s 200 Medley Relay and finished in 5th place overall.
Senior Alyssa Arwood and sophomore Mary-O Soule won state championships in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard butterfly, respectively. Arwood’s winning time also set a new state record.
As the members of the Roberson swim team awaited the results of the Women’s 200 medley relay, the overall feeling was one of anticipation and excitement.
“I was hoping that they would do as well as they did, but I was not expecting it. They did an extremely, extremely good job,” swim coach Jim Cottam said.
The relay team, consisting of Arwood, sophomores Soule and Camille Long, and freshman Anna Newnam, placed third, the best that the team has ever done at the 4A NCHSAA state meet.
Additionally, Arwood received an automatic All-American qualifying time, meaning that she was designated as one of the Top 100 swimmers in the country. The 200-yard medley relay team and Soule’s time in the 100-yard butterfly also received All-American consideration times, which will be submitted to see if they place within the Top 100 nationwide in each event.
Assistant Swim Coach Katherine Grainger believed that the team had a good chance for success going into the meet, but was thrilled with how all of the swimmers competed.
“We knew that Alyssa was going to do well because she was the national champion last year at the YMCA Nationals in the breaststroke, and we were very excited that she broke the state record. Mary-O also had a really good season as well, so it wasn’t really a shock that she did so well. Still, we were super proud of her. Anna did really good at state for a freshman. Thirteenth in the 100-yard butterfly in under a minute is really good,” Grainger said.
After placing 2nd in the 100-yard breaststroke and 3rd in the 50-yard freestyle at the state championship last year, Arwood felt prepared and focused for this year’s final meet.
“I had in my mind what I was going for. In preliminaries, I was two-hundredths of a second off of the state record. That night I knew I was shooting for it and was very fired up,” Arwood said.
Over the course of the season, the Roberson swim team has broken all but two school records, with half of those broken during the regular season. According toteam’s success.
“We had an incredible crew of swimmers, and I definitely knew the potential was there this season to break the records. So, it was not a total shock,” he said.
Grainger feels that an additional advantage for the team, both this year and for the future, was a strong group of younger athletes.
“On our relay team, we only had one upperclassman. It is rare that most of our relay team is this young. It will be bad to loose Alyssa and the other seniors, but hopefully we will have more strong girls coming up next year,” Grainger said.
Cottam also looks forward to future accomplishments, from both the girl’s and boys’ teams.
“It will be tough to lose the group of seniors that we have, but somehow, someway, the younger swimmers always seem to figure out a way to step up. The boys’ team was heartbreakingly close to making it to state this year, and we have some really strong younger guys as well. It will be exciting to watch over the next few years, and it gives us something to work for,” Cottam said.
The boys ended the regular season this year with a 10-2 record, and the girls finished with a regular season tally of 10-1-1.