The pinnacle of every sports season for the Raiders is making it to the state tournament. State is the goal of every sport, every season. The Raiders girls swim and dive team sent Ashtyn Stewart, Ava McNamara, Josey Larson, Clara Birken, Kira Aarness, Lila Salzman and Lauren Jenkins to the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota for the MSHSL State Swim and Dive Championships held on Nov. 17-19.

The first race for the girls was the 200 medley relay. Stewart swam the backstroke leg in 28.25, McNamara swam the breaststroke in 30.08, Larson swam the butterfly in 27.32 and Birken anchored the relay swimming the freestyle in 26.28 for a total relay time of 1:51.93, good for 15th place in the prelims. The first-place team had a total time of 1:44.89. In the finals, Hastings had a total time of 1:52.26, earning them All-State Honorable Mention. Minnetonka won the top spot on the podium with a 1:43.75.

Ava McNamara qualified for state in the 100-butterfly. In the preliminaries, McNamara placed fourth with a time of 55.62 and in the finals, she moved up to third with a time of 55.54, edging out Haley Zelen of Shakopee who finished with a 55.55. When McNamara qualified for state at the section meet and was also named section swimmer of the year. Finishing third at state also earned her All-State honors. First place went to Claire Reinke of Wayzata with a time of 53.62.

Hastings had another relay in the mix, this time it was the 200-freestyle relay team of McNamara, Salzman, Jenkins and Aarness. In the preliminaries, they swam a 1:40.19 good for 13th place and in the finals, they finished 15th with a time of 1:41.68 also earning All-State Honorable Mention. First went to Edina with a time of 1:34.50.

McNamara was not done though; she still had the 100-breaststroke. In the prelims, she had a time of 1:05.39 which placed her in seventh. For the finals, McNamara finished in sixth with a time of 1:05.56 and another All-State Honor. First place went to Cate Pawlaski of Andover with a 1:02.79.

“We wrapped up the Raider Girls Swim and Dive season with a 20th place finish at AA state meet, third place in Section 3AA and Metro East Conference Champs,” said Head Coach Katie McAlpin. “Our team is small but mighty. Most of our competitors are almost double in member numbers than we are.”

Congratulations to all of the Raiders swimmers on an excellent season!