On Feb. 17, the girls swim team competed in the Class 2 State Swimming Championship at the St. Peters Rec-Plex. The girls went into the meet as the reigning State champions, but they fell 54 points short of defending their title.

Rock Bridge High School took home the State title as the Lancers placed second. 

Despite the Lancer’s second place finish, Head Coach Todd Gabel was proud of his team’s performance at the large meet.

“The team performed fantastic. They had a lot of best times. We trained well all season and did a great job at the end,” Gabel said.

Senior Franceska Petrosino accounted for much of the team’s success as she placed first in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay.

Not only did Petrosino take home the gold in both of her individual races, but she also set two new personal records and recorded the fastest times in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle in Lafayette girls swim history.

Petrosino’s success was not by mistake. She put in hard work and stayed focused throughout the competition.

“I prepared for State by maintaining a healthy diet for the weeks leading up to the meet and keeping a positive attitude throughout the experience,” Petrosino said.  

Gabel was not surprised by Petrosino’s success. He has always been impressed with her work ethic and racing skills.

“She is very impressive and a hard worker. When it comes to racing, Franceska is the best competitor I have seen in a very long time. She races to win,” Gabel said. “Her success is because of her hard work, focus and drive to be successful.”

In the fall, Petrosino will be swimming at the University of Kansas, and she thinks her commitment to swim at the next level motivated her to swim faster at State.

“I think what set this meet apart from previous State meets was who I was swimming for. In past years, I was racing for myself and Lafayette, but this year I think I had an added push to do my best for my future teammates and coaches at the University of Kansas,” Petrosino said.

Another Lancer who had a successful State meet was senior Elle Christie. Christie won the Class 2 diving title with a score of 451.6 points.

As she competed, Christie tried to stay focus on her own diving, so she could give her best performance.

“I knew that I had put together a good list of dives, but I wasn’t paying attention to anyone else’s scores, so I was just hoping that I had done my dives well enough in order to get enough points to win,” Christie said.

Going into the meet, Christie knew she had a chance to win an individual State title, so she felt extra pressure. However, Christie found a way to ignore the pressure and place first.

“This State meet felt really special because it was my last one, and I knew I had a chance of winning,” Christie said. “I could feel the pressure of everything, but I knew that this is what I had prepared for, and I felt completely ready to take on the challenge.”

Although the Lady Lancers did not successfully defend their State title, Gabel is happy with what they accomplished and how they acted throughout the season.

Gabel said, “What was special about the season is how [the girls] had each others’ backs. It was their family and they really cared about each other. They bonded really well and all had the same goal.”