Six swimmers to compete in MIL Finals
Photo by Faith Owan
Senior Kristian Rosete swims in the 100-yd backstroke during the MIL Championship Trials on Friday, January 6. One swimmer qualified for the HHSAA tournament, three made consideration times, and six will be returning for the finals today, February 7 in Kīhei.
Six KS Maui swimmers qualified for today’s Maui Interscholastic League finals at yesterday’s trials in Kīhei, including senior Spencer Shiraishi, who had the top time in two events (50- and 100-yd freestyle).
The individual athletes who are swimming for medals today are:
- 200-yd free: Lia Ikeda
- 50-yd free: Quinn Shiraishi, Mia Czerwinski, Spencer Shiraishi, Kiaku Nae’ole
- 100-yd fly: Quinn Shiraishi, Lia Ikeda
- 100-yd free: Riann Fujihara, Spencer Shiraishi, Taylor Lee, Kiaku Nae’ole
- 100-yd backstroke: Mia Czerwinski, Quinn Shiraishi
- 100-yd breast: Taylor Lee, Aaron Veincent (alt)
Kamehameha Maui teams will also be competing in most of the relays: girls and boys 200-yd medley, girls and boys 200-yd freestyle relay, and the girls 400-yd freestyle relay.
The finals begin at 1 p.m. at Kīhei Aquatic Center.
Spencer Shiraishi made qualifying times for the state competition, and Czerwinski, Lee, and Ikeda swam consideration times for a spot at states.
“I think overall the team has done a great job,” said Coach Amanda Jimenez. She explained that the team’s training plan had worked as she’d expected, and that the hard work has paid off.
A majority of the Warriors beat their personal records at the meet, including junior Lia Ikeda.
“My goal this whole season was to make the consideration time, which is a 1:07.29, and if I made that, then I would maybe swim it at states…I made a 1:07.50 and then this one I went a 1:07.17, which is my best time ever,” Ikeda said.
Meeting goals was the theme of the evening. Freshman Tayler Siminski beat her personal record and was “proud of how our team’s been so far,” and sophomore Quinn Shiraishi was only .01 seconds away from making the consideration time for the Hawai’i High School Athletic Association tournament.
“I think that we’ve done really well. Both me and my brother [Spencer] have made personal best, so hopefully that’s like a projection for how the team will do,” Shiraishi said.
As for how he’ll do in the MIL championships today, Spencer said he’s “not sure. The person that’s in second place right now is super close to me. So I just got to push it; hopefully I’ll beat him.”
As the swimming season comes to a close, swimmers agree on the fun times they’ve had.
“I think it’s one of my favorite [seasons] definitely because we have a big team but we’re also really, really, really, really close,” Ikeda said. “But we’ve also been really focused on our swimming, and that’s definitely come out, because we’re all accomplishing goals we’ve had since like the beginning of high school.”
Like senior Kiaku Naeʻole, who made his personal best at yesterday’s meet. “It’s been great. It’s been a lot of fun just hanging out with everyone and also, competitively, we’ve been doing really good, and we’ve all been achieving personal records,” Naeʻole said.
The finals today will unveil whether or not there will be other state qualifiers, and for now, the Warriors can cross their fingers and hope for the best.
Quinn Shiraishi said, “The overall swimming season has been really fun. We’ve all improved our times and we’ve all gotten really close as a team.”
