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Holyoke’s fearsome foursome relay swim team members, who placed in all three of their relays (200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle) at the 3A state swim meet in Thornton last weekend are pictured from left, Haley Van Overbeke, Rylee Schneller, Traeli Hutches and Lali Marquez. — Michelle Van Overbeke

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Rylee Schneller swims the breaststroke, in which she placed 13th in the 100-yard individual event, and swam the stroke in the 200-yard medley relay event that placed 19th at the 3A state meet. — Michelle Van Overbeke

Team places in 4 events at state swim meet

Holyoke’s fearsome foursome — seniors Lali Marquez and Traeli Hutches, and juniors Haley Van Overbeke and Rylee Schneller — not only qualified in three relay events in the state 3A girls swimming competition, but they placed in all three.

On top of that, Schneller placed in the individual 100-yard breaststroke event.

It was a state meet to be proud of Feb. 14-15 at the Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton.

In order to make it back to the coveted finals on Saturday, swimmers must post a top 20 time in the Friday preliminaries.

Coaches Aly Brinkema and Adria Colver knew that it really could have gone either way. In nearly every event that Holyoke swam, they were seeded in the low to mid-20s with the task to beat out anywhere from two to five teams to make the top 20.

“The ladies exceeded my every expectation with top 20 swims in all three relays — a first in Holyoke High School swimming history,” said Brinkema.

Schneller’s individual swim in the 100 breaststroke guaranteed her a spot in the finals, as well.

“We ended prelims with best times and high hopes for the next day,” Brinkema noted. She added that it was especially rewarding to see such speed after having a rough conference meet due to ongoing illness.

“The ladies had to swim their very best on Friday in order to make the finals, so it is always a guessing game as to whether they will have more in the tank to give at finals,” Brinkema said.

With Olympic swimmer Missy Franklin’s high school records dominating the heat sheet, Brinkema said she felt the Holyoke team embodied Franklin’s quote: “Yesterday doesn’t matter, it’s about who can get their hand on the wall first — today.”

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