In the final meet of the season, the Blue Waves of MSMS competed and placed in finals at Tupelo, Mississippi. Competing in the Tupelo Aquatic Center, the girls, Sara Sheward, Breana Herd, Samantha Broussard and Andie Nanny, placed third at the 200-Meter Medley Relay at finals Saturday night. Four also qualified for finals individually: Elijah Dosda, Cale Upton, Sara Sheward, and Samantha Broussard.

The girls’ 200-Meter Medley Relay was a significant achievement for the girls, according to Dosda.

“I remember I was super nervous going into the meet. The relay went amazing; we placed third overall in the state which I still can’t wrap my head around,” Nanny stated. “My part of the relay was fifty yards of freestyle. My best time last season was 31.5 seconds, which I broke during this relay.”

She competed in the relay and cheered the swim team on throughout the rest of the day.

The relay time dropped by six seconds from the preliminary session to the finals, according to Broussard, who also competed in the relay.

“When we got third in our Medley Relay, it was honestly the most fun and memorable part of the meet. I can’t wait to see what happens next year,” Broussard said.

“The girls were elated. They cried out of joy and were very excited. You could see it from their faces,” Dosda said.

In the individual events, Sara Sheward placed second and Samantha Broussard placed seventh in the 100-meter fly. Sheward competed in a total of two events: the 100-meter fly and 100-meter backstroke. Broussard competed in the 100-meter fly and the relay. In addition, Herd competed in the 100-meter breaststroke and 50-meter freestyle at preliminaries.

“I was super proud of myself. I was a little nervous at first, but the encouragement and support I felt from my team and my coach made me really excited to swim and do my best. Without them, I wouldn’t have done nearly as well as I did,” Sheward said.

On the boys’ team, Cale Upton placed third in the 100-meter breaststroke and fifth in the 200-meter Individual Medley, and Elijah Dosda placed eighth in the 100-yard fly and seventh in the 500-meter freestyle. Both individuals competed in two events. Upton competed in the 200-meter IM and 100-meter breaststroke placed in both, receiving a medal for his breaststroke performance. Dennis Lee competed in 100-meter breaststroke. Dosda advanced to finals in both the events he participated in.

“Fifth and seventh might not sound that amazing, but we have a small team and based on how big some of the other teams are, it’s really good results,” Upton said.

“Other teams had around sizes of twenty athletes. The Blue Waves had seven, in total.” Dosda noted. “It’s notable to even advance to finals because you have to qualify for north state championships, place top six for state championships, and then place top eight for preliminary from the combined swimmers of the north half and south half.”

The season ended with MSMS placing third overall. The MSMS Blue Waves, the girls’ relay team, Sheward and Upton, will be returning to MSMS with medals in tow for their accomplishments this weekend.