“I think we did really well. We had a lot of time dropped and a lot of good races. I’m glad that the kids pushed themselves as hard as they did, and even though we came up short in the end, I think that many of them should be proud of how they raced,” coach Nanette Cummings said.

On Jan. 11, the boys’ and girls’ swim team participated in the Arctic Classic Swimming Invitational. This was the sixteenth annual invitational held at Clearfield High School. 11 other schools participated in the invitational this year. 

“I like that I’m able to bond with the other members of the swim team and have fun swimming events that I chose for myself,” senior Julianna Kratzer said. 

Weeks before the invitational, swimmers had to submit two individual events that they wanted to swim. At a normal meet, swimmers are put into events by the coaches. 

“I normally swim the 100 breaststroke, the 400 free relay and the 200 free relay. At the invitational, I got to swim the 50 free, 100 free and the 400 free relay,” sophomore Hanna Marketta said. 

The day started at 7:15 am when the swimmers loaded themselves onto a bus to drive to Clearfield. 

“It felt weird to wake up that early on a weekend to go to a swim meet,” junior Emily Neil said. 

After the swimmers arrived at Clearfield, they got into the pool for a warm up and one way starts. 

“If you don’t do warm ups and stretch, then your body won’t be able to do its best because you’ll be all tight and sore. I like warm ups and think that if you don’t do them, you won’t do well,” J. Kratzer said. 

After warm ups and starts, the invitational started. The swimmers spent the majority of their day sitting on the floor of the gym waiting for their events to start. 

 The following relay teams and individuals earned points for the team. The girls’ team finished with 55 points and the boys’ team finished with 75 points.

The relay team of freshman Emma Fraundorfer, seniors Julianna Kratzer, Anastasia Slobodnik and freshman Kylie Focht placed seventh in the girls’ 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay. 

The relay team of sophomore Isaac Kratzer, senior Rusty Focht, senior Jared Markel and junior Brennen Dugan placed seventh in the boys’ 200-yard medley relay and placed fifth in the boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay. 

The relay team of freshman Jacob Steinbugl, junior Ethan Pacifico, senior Ben Neil and junior Zion Weaver placed eighth in the boys’ 400-yard freestyle relay. Senior Anastasia Slobodnik placed ninth in the girls’ 200-yard individual medley relay. Slobodnik also placed eighth in the girls’ 500-yard freestyle. 

Senior Julianna Kratzer placed seventh in the girls’ 100-yard breaststroke. Freshman Emma Fraundorfer placed eleventh in the girls’ 50-yard freestyle. Fraundorfer also placed sixth in the girls’ 100-yard freestyle. Senior Jared Markel placed seventh in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle. Markel also placed ninth in the boys’ 100-yard freestyle. Sophomore Isaac Kratzer placed ninth in boys’ 50-yard freestyle and tenth in the boys’ 100-yard backstroke. Senior Rusty Focht placed tenth in the boys’ 100-yard butterfly. Focht also placed fifth in the boys’ 100-yard breaststroke. 

“I was pretty happy with my placement. I felt accomplished that my time was a 1:10.40,” Focht said. 

The Mt. Lion Invitational was scheduled for Jan. 18 but was canceled because only one other school signed up. 

“I think that it’s sad that it was canceled because I was looking forward to meeting other swimmers and seeing how I compared to them,” J. Kratzer said. 

The team will participate in another invitational at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in February.