By Bruce Karnick

[email protected]

The JV Conference meet is the spot where the underclassmen have the opportunity to shine. The fun thing about the JV meet is the kids get to go in and just swim. It’s the last meet of the season for them so they lay it all on the line. Overall, Hastings had a great showing with many swimmers having personal bests. As a collective, the Raiders shaved a total of 64 seconds off their previous individual times. That does not sound like much, but there are only 11 races total, three of which are relays.

Garrett Watterson dropped nine seconds in the 200 individual medley where he placed second by just .07 seconds. Watterson also trimmed off two seconds in the 100 freestyle where he placed ninth.

Kenrick O’Donnell cut three seconds off of his 100 butterfly and placed fourth. The biggest drop of the day was O’Donnell’s 100 backstroke where he cut a whopping 15 seconds off his best time, good for sixth overall.

O’Donnell and Watterson were named swimmers of the meet by the coaching staff for their tremendous improvements.

Overall, Hastings finished in third place as a team with a score of 272. Simley had 344 for second place and St. Thomas Academy took first with 410.

Saturday Hastings hosted their Diving Invite, an 11-dive meet that featured 20 divers from eight different teams. Thomas Foss earned diver of the meet accolades from coaches for his hard work in his first-ever 11-dive meet. For comparison, the regular season dual meets are normally six dives.

Prior Lake’s Blake Wallen took first place with a score of 404.25. Hastings’ divers finished in the middle of the pack, Charlie Jensen at ninth with a 260.10 and Thomas Foss in 10th with a 241.15.