MARYSVILLE — Hannah Taylor has been spending time in the water since before she can remember.
“I’ve been swimming my whole life,” she said. “I swam for the Marlins in seventh grade and that’s when I started to get serious about it.”
Taylor’s dedication to the sport paid off for her during the WIAA State Swim and Dive Meet in Federal Way on Nov. 10, and again on Nov. 14 when she signed a letter of intent to swim for the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
“My goal was to win state this year and sadly I got second place,” said Taylor. “I swam my best times in everything that I did at state. I think it was the best trip to state I’ve had.”
Both Marysville-Pilchuck and Marysville Getchell swimmers and divers competed at the state meet.
“The Lady Tomahawk Swim and Dive proved they were a force to be reckoned with, finishing 10th overall in the state meet,” said head coach Jaci Legore Hodgins. “We were led by senior Hannah Taylor, also UNLV bound, who swam an All-American consideration time in the 100-yard butterfly and was second overall with a career best time of 56.15. She was third in the 100-yard backstroke and also swam a career best time of 56.96.”
Taylor’s performances in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke broke Marysville-Pilchuck school records, both previously held by Taylor herself.
“She led our eighth-place 200-yard freestyle relay team, which was also First Team Wesco, with a school record 50-yard freestyle of 23.91,” said Legore Hodgins. “She also swam her fastest 50-yard butterfly split in our medley relay, which was First Team Wesco and top 16 at state.”
This was Taylor’s third trip to the state meet, having placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke as a freshman and ninth in the same event as a sophomore. She took her junior year off from high school swimming to compete in the Tacoma Swim Club. When she returned to Marysville to finish out her high school career she began to gain notice from colleges and universities.
“I started getting in contact with schools at Junior Nationals over the summer,” said Taylor, who spoke with the University of New Mexico and North Arizona University before choosing UNLV.
“I liked everything about it, the program, the campus, the team,” said Taylor. “I am really excited. I want to have the best collegiate career I can in swimming.”
Although Taylor’s love for swimming helped to get her college recognition, she is still focused on her studies.
“I take academics seriously. I have a 3.9 GPA,” said Taylor, who plans to major in engineering at Nevada. “I’m not sure what field of engineering I want to go into yet, but I know I want to find the best possible job that I can have fun with.”
Younger Tomahawk swimmers also found success at state, with junior Melody Coleman placing fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke.
“Melody Coleman was on the relays and placed fifth in the breaststroke and swam a career best time of 1:07.84,” said Legore Hodgins. “She was top 16 in the 200 individual medley.”
Freshman Madison Rossnagle took 19th place in the 100 breaststroke and swam her fastest relay splits of the season, and freshman Rebekah Pusateri finished out the relay team. “We are very proud of how our freshmen stepped up at the big show,” said Legore Hodgins.
On the diving side of things, M-P broke the top 20 list, as senior diver Aryn Hoyt finished 19th in the state overall. “We are very proud of her as well. She dove well and ended her season on a great note,” said Legore Hodgins.
Marysville Getchell, a team also coached by Legore Hodgins, broke school records at state and took top spots as well.
“We had awesome junior power at the state meet,” said Legore Hodgins. “Junior Rachel Hartmeyer broke her own school record and swam her fastest 500 freestyle ever with a 5:27.57. She finished 16th in the state and Courtney Moss placed 13th in diving.”
The girls swimming season is over, and while some of the swimmers will return next fall, others are moving on.
“I’ve known Legore since I was 3 years old and my mom is the JV coach,” said Taylor. “Being able to swim on the team with them was great. I will never forget it. This was the best senior year ever and I’m glad I did it.”
