Sectional Recap and Closing Thoughts on Season.
Sectional Recap
Our six swimmers had a blast racing at the Region VIII Sectional meet this past week. Berklee Adams, Banks Anderson, Ella Marsh, Mateo Sherwood, Colborn Trout and Joshua Victoriano finished 19th out of 46 combined scoring teams, 17th out of 39 Men’s Scoring Teams and 18th out of 35 Women’s Scoring Teams. #smallbutmighty. Sectionals is a regional meet comprised of 5 LSCs: Missouri Valley (Kansas and Western Missouri), Midwestern (Nebraska), Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Ozark (Eastern Missouri/St. Louis Metro/Far Southern Illinois). This year’s meet was one of the fastest in the country!
Results
Our guys had an 800 Fr Relay that scored 24th, our first scoring Men’s relay in a quite some time.
Berklee achieved a best time by 3.5 seconds, and new Sectional Cut in the 400IM. She also placed 25th and won the D final of the 200 Butterfly. It was a great first Sectionals for Berklee.
Banks scored in all his races and finished with 125 point for Ad Astra. He had significant time drops of nearly 10 seconds in his 1650 (4th), over 5 seconds in his 500 (6th) and over 6 seconds in his 400IM (4th). He also had personal bests in his 200 Free (18th) and 200 Fly (11th). He finished 4th overall in the 1000. Banks achieved a new Winter Junior cut in the 1650 (15:35.26) and new Futures cut in his 200 Free (1:41.23).
Ella also scored and achieved best times in every one of her races, accumulating 87 points in all. She achieved new Futures cuts in her 100Bk (19th, 56.84) and 200IM (12th, 2:04.84). Her 200IM was a 2.5 second drop. She also has significant drop of nearly 2 seconds in her 200Br (11th), over 6 seconds in her 400 IM (4:23.35) and nearly 2 seconds in the 200 Fly (6th). She won the C final of the 100 fly (17th) in another personal best.
Mateo scored 4 points in the 1000 (21st) at his first ever Sectional meet. Mateo swam to best time in his 400IM by nearly 8 seconds – an awesome swim in his time trial race! He also scored as part of the 800 Fr relay and placed 26th in the 1650 free. Nice job for Mateo at his first Sectionals.
Colborn had 4 best times at his first Sectional meet along with scoring in 3 races with 36 points. He had monster time drops in his distance races: 54 seconds in his 1650 (11th), over 4 seconds in his 500 (25th) and nearly 15 seconds in his 1000 (11th). He also shaved 2 more seconds off his 400 IM (21st).
Josh swam his best time anchoring the 800 free relay. It was an important step forward for our guy’s team to have a relay at this meet. We are proud Josh came to represent our team and help us score in this relay.
Team Records from the Meet
Male 17-18 500 Free Anderson, Banks 3/14/26 4:29.74
Male 17-18 200 Fly Anderson, Banks 3/14/26 1:52.47
Male Open 500 Free Anderson, Banks 3/14/26 4:29.74
Male 17-18 400 IM Anderson, Banks 3/13/26 3:57.14
Male Open 400 IM Anderson, Banks 3/13/26 3:57.14
Male 17-18 1650 Free Anderson, Banks 3/12/26 15:35.26
Male Open 1650 Free Anderson, Banks 3/12/26 15:35.26
Female 15-16 200 Fly Marsh, Ella 3/14/26 2:02.40
Female Open 200 Fly Marsh, Ella 3/14/26 2:02.40
Female 15-16 400 IM Marsh, Ella 3/13/26 4:23.35
Female Open 400 IM Marsh, Ella 3/13/26 4:23.35
Great job to these swimmers. Scoring at this meet takes true dedication and commitment in all the months leading up to this meet.
Closing thoughts on a successful Short Course Season.
Not every season ends the way you pictured—and that’s okay. In swimming, the moments where you fall short of a goal are often the ones that shape you the most. They expose what needs to grow, build resilience, and sharpen your hunger to improve. What feels like a setback now is really just part of a longer journey forward. Take what you’ve learned, own it, and let it fuel you. Long course season is a fresh opportunity—not to start over, but to build on everything you’ve already put in. Stay patient, stay driven, and trust that the work you do now will show up when it matters most.
