The girls’ and boys’ swim teams spent the last weekend of the season at a state-of-the-art natatorium to compete in their biggest races of the year. The 2026 5A State Swimming and Diving Championships were held at the University of Texas’s Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center February 20-21.
“You’re swimming in the same pool where great things and world-class times have been achieved,” junior Marie Wakefield said.
At State, the teams bonded on the three-hour bus ride to celebrated their victories together at the end of the weekend.
“My favorite part was bonding with the team at the meet and the hotel room,” said sophomore Jaxon Major. “It was a good environment, we all took ice baths, and obviously dyed our hair orange to match Brody (Burns), and we just had a good time together. The funniest moment probably was when some of the parents wore ginger wigs in the stands to match us and Brody.”
But while State was a fun experience for the swimmers, that wasn’t always the case during the season. Following a rocky start in the fall, senior Elena Amos said she felt defeated, and State could not have been farther from her mind.
“This year was a little rough, because I was about to quit at the beginning of the year and I was doing really really bad, and I wasn’t hitting my best times or anything,” Amos said. “Basically, I was not really thinking about state.”
Amos said she felt as if she lost her passion for swimming and lost her motivation. What kept her going was her commitment she made last year to swim at the University of Utah, a Div. I program.
“I was about to quit on my own or get kicked off the team because I wasn’t showing up to practice,” Amos said, ”But since I’m going to college to swim and it’s what’s taking me to college, I turned my mindset around. I would say that kinda pushed me into the right direction to prepare well for state.”
Amos wasn’t the only one on the team going through rocky waters. Throughout the season, the team had some issues but came together to motivate and help each other at state and region.
At State, the girls collectively broke three team records and medaled in three events. They finished fourth overall.
Relays were crucial to the win, with the 200 Yard Medley Relay team finishing third and setting a new school record in the process. The swimmers in the relay were junior Courtney Scott, sophomore Marien Martinez, Wakefield and senior Marisa Stone.
After the medley relay, Stone, Wakefield, junior Amerie West and Amos took silver in the 200 freestyle relay after a showdown race with Centennial High School, who beat Kingwood Park out for the gold by .01 seconds.
In the last race of the day, the girls came through with another big performance when Amos, junior Melanie Fixmer, West and Wakefield raced to a second place finish in the 400 yard freestyle relay, setting another school record.
Individually, the girls also had standout finals races with Scott (15th in the 100 backstroke), Martinez (13th in the 100 backstroke), Amos (4th in the 50 freestyle and 8th in the 100 butterfly), and Wakefield, who placed sixth in the 100 butterfly.
“To see all your hard work and all your sacrifices you made in the year kind of come to a head, you start to actually see some result and you’re like ‘Oh my, my struggle did have meaning,’” said Wakefield, who broke the school record in the 100 butterfly. “That’s just really special.”
The boys reached the finals in two events with their highest finish being 10th place in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The relay consisted of senior Brody Burns, sophomore Dylan Black, junior Christian Norris and junior Grayson Longhofer-Hunt. Individually, Jaxon Major placed 16th in the 500 yard freestyle.
“Being a senior definitely made my last meet a lot more special, I enjoyed it more, even though I didn’t do as well as I wanted,” senior Brody Burns said.
