On Feb. 19, the Meridian Swim and Dive team competed at SwimRVA in Richmond at the VHSL Class 3 State Championship. With many personal bests and high rankings, the Mustangs are extremely proud of their performance, placing 6th overall in the meet. They finished with a total of 352.87 points.
One of the most impressive records was that of senior Ryan Southern, who won the 100 Yard butterfly event. He not only placed first in the preliminaries (morning races, where everyone swims regardless of their time) with a time of 49.71 seconds, but also placed first in the finals (after the preliminaries; in the evening when the top swimmers compete for a a ranking) with an even faster time, 49.11 seconds. Southern’s impressive time set a new VHSL Class 3 Record, making him the champion of the 100Y fly. He will continue his swimming career at the University of Delaware next season.
“A lot of the swimmers on the team have spent a lot of time and effort working towards competing. I know a lot of the states team was super excited to be able to compete, and it was a privilege to be able to race with the Meridian team for the last time in my high school career,” Southern reflects.
The Women’s 400 Yard freestyle relay also performed exceptionally at the meet, placing 7th overall in the state. This relay team consists of junior Valerie Katen, sophomore Maisie Storm, junior Aileen Storm, and senior Mykl Skelton. Their time was 3:55.83, which gave them a score of 24.00, allowing the swimmers to contribute 264 NISCA Points to the team.
Aileen Storm opened the race, swimming a split of 59.60 seconds for the first 100 yards. Maisie Storm swam second with her split taking only 58.63 seconds. The third leg was Skelton, who kept her relay on pace, swimming her 100 yards with a time of 59.83 seconds. Last was the anchor, Katen. As the fastest member of the relay, the girls were relying on her to take the team home. Katen finished with the fastest time yet, 57.77 seconds, securing the top 10 podium for the relay.
“A big part of swimming is your mental game. I always make sure to go into a meet feeling confident, which means a healthy meal before drinking lots of water and always warming up before the races…I made sure to stick with my team, know my worth and just give it my all.” Katen explains. As the anchor, Katen often feels a lot of pressure, since she is responsible for finalizing her relay’s performance.
Along with Southern in the 100 Yard Fly event, sophomore Josiah Sturgill placed 3rd overall, his time being 50.40 seconds. This was a personal best for Strugill, and he dropped a total of 0.03 seconds to make it onto the podium.
For the 2025-2026 season, The Mustang’s top swimmers consist of (1) Southern (2) Sturgill, (3) Ty Schmittel, (4) Katen, and (5) Storm. All five of them gained more than 350 points each throughout the 2025-2026 season. Southern had a total of 642.80 pts, Sturgill had 599.35 pts, senior Ty Schmittel with a total of 451.45 pts. Katen gained 440.20 pts throughout her season, and Aileen Storm had 390.45 pts.
