Gearing up for the biggest competition of the year, four Redhawks swimmers, senior Maria Oushalkas, junior Avery Langan, and freshmen Bella Oushalkas, and Zoe Schneider prepare to compete at the 5A state swim meet on Friday and Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin, TX.

It is a yearly meet for senior Maria Oushalkas, who has qualified all four years of her high school career.

“At this point I’m just practicing the small details trying to refine the race entirely,” Maria said. “Mentally I’ve been focused severely on believing in myself. I’m physically capable, so now I must also be mentally capable. My goal is to medal in the 200 free and get as close as I can to medaling in the 100 fly. For the relays we are trying to medal in the 200 Medley and try and place top 5 in the 400 free relay.”

Meanwhile, her sister, freshman Bella Oushalkas is aiming to end the season on a high note. 

“I am mentally feeling good and am ready to go have fun with my team and really close the season out on a good note,” Bella said. “My goal from the very beginning was just to qualify for the championship final on Saturday, finals for the whole meet. Being a freshman ranked very high on the psych sheet it is very cool to see but another big goal of mine is to be supportive of my teammates and be a huge positive person on deck throughout this weekend.”

The girls are aiming to break another school record in the 400 freestyle relay, after they previously did at the district championship.

“To prepare for state we are working on speed and intensity to get our bodies ready to go fast but not doing as much to let our bodies rest and recover,” freshman Zoe Schneider said. “We are thinking positively and making sure we are doing the right things for our body to stay on top mentally. My goal for state is to go best times in the relays. We want to break our school records again and place top three in the relays.”

Junior Avery Langan is looking forward to enjoying their last competition of the season.

“I am physically preparing for state by going to practice and following the plan my coaches have for our taper,”  Langan said. “As for mental preparation, I will continue to look after myself as I always have. My goal at state is merely to have fun and experience what I can and make sure that my team gets through okay.”