The efforts put in to hours of practice, endless directions from coach John Ruzicka, and pushing themselves to the best of their abilities paid off for Tigard’s state swim team. With tough competition from around Oregon participating, the team represented at Oregon class 6A state championships.

The teams’ score ended up as Tigard women’s ranking at 28th, and men’s ranking in at 12th overall. Each member worked to their full capacity to swim as best they could, and each individually racked up points. Junior Caleb Torgerson received 10th in the 50 and 100 yard boy’s freestyle. Sophomore Molly Davis earned 12th in women’s 200 yard freestyle, and sophomore Kyle Miller achieved 5th in boy’s 500 yard freestyle. Achieving 16th in the women’s 50 yard freestyle was freshman Elizabeth Soldwedel. As for relays, Torgerson, Miller, junior Jacob Morris, and senior Jonathan Yao landed 10th place in boy’s 200 and 400 yard freestyle relays.

“The atmosphere was amazing and I had a lot of fun,” Torgerson said, adding, “I’m proud of my teammates and looking forward to next year!”

Coming home proud and more experienced, the Tigard team plans on celebrating their performances and hope to return even better next year.