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Supporting her stroke, Emory Modak ’28 competes in her specialty, breaststroke. The 200 medley relay consisted of four participants that each swam 50 meters (2 laps) of one stroke.
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Cracking her neck and records, Araiya Ferron ’29 mentally prepared herself to compete in the 100 freestyle finals. Breaking a personal and team record, Ferron came out of the water accomplished –out of breath and smiling.
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Praying for potential, Leah Zhang ’26 takes a moment to think before competing in the finals for her 200 IM race. Each swimmer competed in the semi-finals in their individual events in the morning with finals held in the evening for the sixteen fastest swimmers of each event.
Both the women’s and men’s swim and dive teams made a splash at the Aggieland Invitational on Friday, Nov. 8. The Warriors competed against Bowie, Clear Springs, McNeil, Clear Lake, and Lake Travis High School. The girls’ team dominated the leaderboard, finishing first overall with 399 points, while the boys’ team secured fifth place with 180 points.
The meet, held at Texas A&M Natatorium in College Station, served as the last chance for swimmers to qualify for TISCA (Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association), a major milestone for many competitors. Among the standout performances, the girls’ 200 medley relay team broke the meet record, with Araiya Ferron ’29 shattering both the freshman and overall team record in the 100 meter freestyle. NamAnh Truong ’26 also broke the team record in the 100 backstroke, contributing to a weekend full of record-setting.
“Aggieland was a pretty cool experience,” Ferron said. “There were a lot of fast swimmers so it was really cool to see. I think this was my favorite meet because it was cool to have prelims and finals, and be able to tech up.”
Despite the excitement, the boys team faced an unexpected setback when Josh Lee ’26 broke his leg diving off the block for his 200 freestyle relay. Nevertheless, this shocking moment united the team in support and spirit.
“The boys did great given their unexpected circumstance,” Truong said. “They had some really good improvements and the team environment was amazing, everyone did a great job cheering and celebrating each other.”
In diving, Jazzlyn Vaughan ’26 and Leilani Adair ’28 represented Westwood and turned in strong performances, contributing key points to the team’s total. This meet also marked major firsts for several athletes. Ethan Clark ’26 and Siddarth Sripada ’26 both achieved TISCA qualification for the first time, which earned them recognition for the “Best Swimmer” award, while Anika Sharma ’26 earned “Best Cheerleader” for her immense team spirit.
“I dropped [my time] in every event and took four seconds off my 100 backstroke to get my first TISCA cut,” Sripada said. “This meet showed that the hard work you put in will never be wasted. The harder you work, the better the results will be.”
With records broken, first-time TISCA cuts, and nonstop cheering, the Aggieland Invitational marked a milestone for swim and dive. Between big wins, personal bests, and a few unexpected moments, the team showed resilience and spirit, ending the meet with pride for the rest of the season.
“It was just a really good meet overall,” Caleb Koelhoffer ’27 said. “The atmosphere was great, and everyone gave it their all.”
