Swimming: O’Connor senior will get 1 medal at state

When Kaylee Woodruff came upon she’d be in lane of the 100 butterfly last on the Division I swimming championships Nov. 8 in Mesa, she knew the particular challenges that entailed.

Woodruff ended up doing one of the best she might with lane 9, putting eighth within the butterfly last. Less than an hour earlier, the senior positioned third within the 50 freestyle, so she made it to the medal podium as soon as on the final day of her Eagle swimming profession.

“It’s a little bit of a disadvantage,” Woodruff stated of competing in lane 9 in Skyline High School’s 10-lane pool. “You have to kind of watch out for the backsplash from the middle lanes, so if you’re on the outside, you have to kind of follow an outside wave.”

Woodruff additionally positioned eighth general within the Nov. 7 preliminaries within the butterfly, regardless of having the second-fastest seed time, which is why she didn’t find yourself with a type of prime lanes, 4 via 6, within the last.

“I did all right this year,” Woodruff stated of her general state efficiency. “Butterfly was something new I tried this year. Overall, it was a fun senior experience.”

Woodruff might be best-known as an athlete for her volleyball expertise. She’s verbally dedicated to Grand Canyon University to play sand volleyball there.

Woodruff positioned second within the 50 freestyle each in 2023 as a sophomore and once more final 12 months. She additionally positioned third within the 100 freestyle in 2024.

O’Connor had a bigger fan and supporter contingent this 12 months on the championships.

“We got more people to come out and support and help,” Woodruff stated.

Those supporters trekked to Mesa to see Woodruff assist lead the Eagle ladies to nineteenth place in Division I with 51 staff factors, behind West Valley rival Mountain Ridge, whose 79 factors positioned fifteenth.

Woodruff led the women 400 meter freestyle relay staff to a state qualification as nicely. Sophomore Emerson Koury, freshman Lilliana Kolomitz and junior Madysen Thude competed on that relay with Woodruff at state.

The O’Connor boys positioned thirty first in Division I with 12 factors.

Woodruff stated senior management means, partly, to not solely lead by instance, but additionally to know your position and all of your teammates’ roles.

“It’ a little bit more planning that you need to do — getting everyone together,” she stated.

Jason W. Brooks will be reached at jbrooks@iniusa.org. Please submit feedback at yourvalley.internet/letters or e-mail them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are dedicated to publishing all kinds of reader opinions, so long as these meet our  Civility Guidelines.