For the first time in Lady Panthers’ swim history, they have four NISCA All-American athletes.
The qualifying race was the 200 freestyle relay at the 2025 UIL 5A State Swimming Championships with a time of 1:36.50, where they placed second. The team consisted of 2025 graduate Cecelia Sullivan, senior Marisa Stone, junior Marie Wakefield and senior Elena Amos. They also broke the school record in the event. Each girl swam a personal best for their split in the relay.
“They all swam faster than they’ve ever swam in a relay,” coach John Dissinger said. “They really put in a great performance.”
After the race, Coach Dissinger told the athletes they were in consideration for All America. The NISCA All America competition consists of the 100 fastest times in the country. There are two qualifying times – reaching the faster one is an automatic All-American qualifying swim. The other is the consideration time, which means if there are less than 100 automatic qualifiers and the consideration time is still in the top 100, there’s a possibility they could be All-American.
“I thought about it every once in a while,” Stone said. “I just thought it would be like super cool if it did happen.”
The team had to wait for about six months before they could find out if they were All-Americans. They eventually found out they placed 98th in the country.
“I think I was baking my grandma’s birthday cake,” Stone said. “And my dad, he texted me the list and was like, ‘Congratulations Marisa.’ It was the same day that it came out because it was before Coach even texted us. My dad was apparently checking often.”
The swimmers received an official certificate in the mail and assumed that was the end of it. However, at the school’s Go Gold pep rally on Sept. 12, they were honored in front of the entire school and given a plaque and letterman patch.
“I’m not very good at surprises, so I was glad I pulled it off,” Dissinger said. “It was very exciting because we knew that their time would have made it the year before. So when it was official, we celebrated.”
