By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

SULPHUR – The St. Charles boys’ swim team put on a performance Thursday befitting of a back-to-back champion. And now, that’s what the Comets can call themselves.

SCC rolled to its second consecutive Division IV state championship, outscoring second place Newman 481-279 at the SPAR Aquatic Center in Sulphur, in the process securing the school’s second repeat championship run in the last 10 years.

“It’s just pretty exciting,” said St. Charles’ Adam Fisher. “To go back to back … I knew we had a shot, but once it was official it was just a great feeling. In the past, we kept coming in as state runner-up. To break through twice just feels amazing.”

Said Comets’ coach Denise Falgoust: “It’s really big for our school and our program. Everyone performed well. When you look at how many of our guys also play football and run cross-country, it’s always tough when you’re concentrating on two sports at once.”

The St. Charles girls fell just short of making it a clean sweep for the Comets, coming away with state runner-up honors behind University, which won 308.50-273. That 273 score just bested two other squads in Episcopal (269) and Newman (264.50).

The Comet girls battled through adversity to secure that finish.

“We had a lot of shoulder injuries,” said Falgoust. “The girls fought and really came together. We had a girl (Hailey Specht), a year-round swimmer, who hurt her shoulder. I told I just wanted what was best for her. She’s got another three years here. But she was determined. She told me, ‘I want to swim,’… the girls really rallied around that.”

“I think it shows how dedicated we are and how much it means to all of us,” said SCC’s Maggie Trepagnier. “We’re a team. Even if there’s injuries or setbacks, we have to work through it. We stayed pumped up and we all put forth our best. And this time we came out as state runner-up in the end.”

Riverside also put forth a strong showing at the event. The Rebels took a sixth place finish among the boys with a score of 120 points and a ninth place finish among girls with 92 points.

Within Division II, Lutcher also racked up a pair of top three finishes, taking second place among boys and third place among girls (216.50). Vandebilt Catholic captured both championships.

The St. Charles boys swept their relay events en route to their championship, including the 200-yard medley relay team (Gage Alleman, Brandon Klibert, James Krawczyk and Fisher), the 200 freestyle relay (Luke Jackson, Ben Brady, Krawczyk and Fisher) and the 400 freestyle relay (Jackson, Austin Matherne, Alleman and Klibert).

Alleman won the 100 backstroke and 100 individual medley. Brandon Klibert took first place in the 100 butterfly.

Among the Comet girls, Trepagnier came up with a win in the 200 freestyle.

“That was amazing,” she said. “I couldn’t stop smiling.”

The Lutcher girls took first place in the 200 freestyle relay, that team consisting of Kassidy Zeringue, Maci Boe, Mallory Duhe and Kristen Roussel. The LHS boys’ 200 freestyle relay team (Jesse Miller, Mason Duhe, Blake Roussel and Jayce Whitlow) also notched first.

Falgoust is enjoying the spotlight with her team, but acknowledged that she’s already looking forward to next year, which should boast a new set of challenges: after reclassification, St. Charles, Lutcher and Vandebilt Catholic could all be joined in one division.

“That’s going to be a lot of competition,” said Falgoust. “It should be a great race.”