by Emily Jerez

The room is silent, all eyes are on the swimmers, moments later a voice is speaking to the audience. The crowd goes wild as they hear the announcer say the Oakdale Boys’ and Girls’ Swim team has won the County Championship!

“We all screamed and hugged each other,” said Sophomore Mikayla Betancourt when the team found out that they won the title.

On February 7, the Bears went against all the swim teams in Frederick County. The room was filled with joy, and it was a proud moment for the Bears.

“Our coach has told us that morning that we would be leaving with both trophies,” exclaimed Mikayla Betancourt a member of the girls swim team.

The Swim Team was given confidence that day by their swim coach, Coach Lapham. She made the team believe in themselves, and by persevering they won the County Championship.

Christie Burrow, a senior at Oakdale, won the 100 yard butterfly at 1 minute, 4.93 seconds. She won by half a second against a swimmer from Frederick High School.

At 1 minute 49.49 seconds, partners  Burrow and Sydney Gilmore (also a Senior), won the 200 yard freestyle relay. It was incredible that these two seniors won the 200 freestyle by just over a second, once again by the Frederick High School team.

The Senior girls weren’t the only ones who greatly impacted the team; everyone contributed in order to win the title. Sophomore Melissa Novak transferred to Oakdale this year and won the diving title.

The Oakdale Bears won against Walkersville,  the undefeated swim team until now. They received 2nd place with 114 points while the Bears won first place with 118 points.

The Oakdale Bears swim team  worked  hard to take home the County Championship. We wish these students good luck as they go and compete at regionals.