On Friday night, the Belton Swim Team traveled to College Station to compete in the Region VI-5A Swimming Championship Meet Preliminaries, hosted by A&M Consolidated. With a spot in Finals on the line, our Belton Tigers competed with incredible poise and confidence. Almost every swimmer is coming back in an event, with some looking at potential trips to State! Below are some of the highlights:

-200 Girls' Medley Relay (Martin, Malvaiz, Dangcalan, Detert) qualified for the A-Final in 8th
-200 Girls' Free: Liliana Nelson qualified for the A-final in 3rd
-200 Boys' Free: Addison Richardson qualified for the A-final in 6th
-200 Girls' IM: Kirra Martin qualified for the B-final in 10th/Zayra Malvaiz qualified for the B-final in 15th/Mikayla Dangcalan qualified for the B-final in 16th
-200 Boys' IM: Hobson Baldridge qualified for the B-final in 14th
-50 Girls' Free: Zee Gingerich qualified for the B-final in 13th/Olivia Brillhart qualified for the B-final in 14th
-50 Boys' Free: Jaxon Isbell qualified for the B-final in 14th
-100 Girls' Butterfly: Mikayla Dangcalan qualified for the B-final in 16th
-100 Girls' Free: Zee Gingerich qualified for the A-final in 8th
-500 Girls' Free: Liliana Nelson qualified for the A-final in 2nd/Sophia Detert qualified for the B-final in 10th
-500 Boys' Free: Addison Richardson qualified for the A-final in 2nd/Hobson Baldridge qualified for the B-final in 14th
-Girls' 200 Freestyle Relay (Nelson, Gingerich, Detert, Brillhart) qualified for the A-final in 8th
-Boys' 200 Freestyle Relay (Richardson, Jenkins, Baldridge, Isbell) qualified for the A-final in 8th
-100 Girls' Backstroke: Olivia Brillhart qualified for the A-final in 8th/Kirra Martin qualified for the B-final in 10th
-100 Boys' Backstroke: Raef Airhart qualified for the B-final in 16th
-100 Girls' Breaststroke: Zayra Malvaiz qualified for the B-final in 11th/Isabella Rodriguez qualified for the B-final in 15th
-Girls' 400 Freestyle Relay (Nelson, Gingerich, Martin, Brillhart) qualified for the A-final in 6th
-Boys' 400 Freestyle Relay (Richardson, Airhart, Baldridge, Isbell) qualified for the A-final in 8th

On Saturday, the Tigers will look to continue their excellent form in the Finals session, where they can potentially score the highest amount of points since 2016. On top of that, Liliana Nelson and Addison Richardson both have a legitimate shot at automatically qualifying for the UIL-5A State meet, with a top 2 finish in their events. Other swimmers like Zee Gingerich, Kirra Martin, and Olivia Brillhart might have an outside chance at a state appearance with an outstanding relay performance in the Girls' 400 Freestyle Relay. However, all of these are hypothetical for now. It's time for the Tigers to earn their spots at Finals!