The girls’ swim team earned first place last week at regionals on Feb. 10-11 at the University of Houston, while the boys placed fifth place, making Cinco Ranch the overall team champions.

Senior diver Dominic Ricotta received first place in 1M diving and will be moving on to state in Austin. Sophomore Kathryn Carson also qualified for state individually, and will be joined in relays by senior Avery Heussner, junior Amanda Moore, and sophomores Sarah Medellin and Erin Sutton.

“The goals all year have been to see overall best time swims from the athletes, win district, advance as many girls as possible on to regionals and the ultimate goal was to qualify again for the state meet,” head swim coach Christie Patterson said.

After many of the top scorers for the girls’ team graduated last year, they worked hard to pull through with win for the ninth consecutive year.

“Our girls’ team this year was really close to other teams in our district, [such as] Seven Lakes, and Memorial and Taylor, but we pulled through,” Carson said. “We might not always win every single event, but we are stacked throughout the event, and that’s how we get our points.”

According to Patterson, it was no surprise that the girls swam so well because they showed great potential at the beginning of the season despite the loss of great leaders last year.

“They are very talented and have so much potential, and I just kept harassing them that they have limitless potential if they just put their mind to it,” Patterson said.

The swimming and diving state meet will be on Feb. 24-25 at the University of Texas in Austin.

“To me, making it to state was so shocking. When I made it individually, I honestly was so surprised. I have been swimming since I was 4, and hard work really does pay off in the end,” Carson said. “I’ve been training all year for this. I’m ready.”