Hawks Swim End Season on a High

The Lakeland swim program is on the rise after another successful season. 

The Lakeland Hawks swim season has officially wrapped up. 

To close the season, the team swam at the State Tournament in Boise, Idaho, at the Boise City Aquatic Center on November 5th. 

“Towards the beginning, I wasn’t improving much on my race times, but I grew in learning to work harder, and my times changed with that,” said sophomore Thayer Sabatke.

Lakeland performed well in relays and individual events over the weekend. 

As a team, the boys placed eighth with 89 points scored. 

Elijah Minix, Ethan Abbott, Ethan Harrell, and Jeremiah Couper also placed eighth in the Men’s 200-yard Medley Relay with a time of 1 minute and 54.58 seconds. 

“Our team did really great, and I personally (set a personal record) in all my events. The vibe there was very positive,” said Micah Minix. 

The girl’s team, made up of Avery Sabatke, Micah Bretveld, Addy Hobbs, and Sarah Smith, also performed well in their 200-yard freestyle relay, placing 11th. 

“The girls’ freestyle relay could have gone better for us. We could have pushed ourselves a little harder to get into the finals,” Bretveld.
In the Men’s 200-yard freestyle Logan Harris placed sixth, followed by Elijah Minix at 16th. Ethan Abbott placed ninth in the Men’s 200-yard IM with a time of 2 minutes and 18.89 seconds. 

Overall the 2023 season was described as successful by the Hawks. There were numerous swimmers who medaled or scored within the top six at the final meet.

“My best memory is all the team dinners that we had the night before our meets where we always played a bunch of games,” said Sabatke. 

He wasn’t alone.

“Having teams dinners at our friends’ houses was the best,” recalled Bretveld. 

As expected, the biggest competition for Lakeland was Skyline, Bishop Kelly, and league rival Sandpoint. 

The Skyline Grizzlies boy’s team and the Skyview Hawks girl’s team took hold of the first-place trophies at the long-awaited tournament. 

In the off-season, the swim coaches plan to start a lifting program to benefit the returning swimmers, and normal practices will return this Summer.