STARKVILLE, Miss., Thurs., October 8 – The Starkville High School Swim team competed in their fourth and final regular season meet, Tuesday, October 6 in Tupelo.

Eleven teams competed, resulting in Boys’ team placing second with a total of 78 points and the Girls’ team placing second with a total of 84.50 points.

Benson Le, Junior Boys’ swimmer, placed second in the 100 backstroke and fourth in the 100-freestyle cutting his time in both events.

“I think I did pretty good in all of my events and cut my time in all of them,” Le said.

Le was awarded the Golden Goggles award for his performance improvements at the Tuesday meet.

Le said he didn’t really expect to get the Golden Goggles but “was really excited” when he did. “To me it means my hard work during practices finally paid off in the end and I strive to swim better and faster.”

Arianna Dyess, the Girls’ swim captain, placed second in the 100 butterfly, by less than a second.

“I feel like I performed well on Tuesday. Our team is preparing by doing practices and workouts in and out of the pool, but I am doing extra home workouts where I can to prepare for North State,” Dyess said.

Dyess is a junior for the Jacket swim team, has been swimming for Starkville High for five years.

“As the captain, I’ve done my best to keep everyone motivated by always making sure to tell someone when they did good,” Dyess said.

Dyess believes making someone feel appreciated goes a long way. As captain she tries to help everyone with anything they need to know or “need help with” at practices.

“After swimming for 5 years, the influence I try to have is to not give up and to make sure my teammates won’t think they can’t do something,” Dyess said.

Both the Lady Jacket and Jackets Swim teams qualified for North State in all three relays. Nine swimmers qualified in individual events.

These Swim Jackets will compete at North State in Tupelo on October 17.