Oxford’s swimmers rounded out this past week with two wins and an admirable tournament finish, setting records for the Wildcats along the way. With the OAA white finals on the horizon, Oxford is gearing up to take its new division by storm.

Oakland County Championships

Oxford took 13th place out of 32 teams in the Oakland County Championship tournament after competing on Oct. 5 and 6 with 76 points, an all-time high for the Wildcats at this competition. Along the way, many of the girls swam state-qualifying times.

Starting of the relays were junior Ashlee Weltyk, sophomore Grace Charnstrom, freshman Cali Schnur and junior Jenna Fistler in the 200 Medley Relay, who took 11th in the county with a time of 1:52.84. The time was an Oxford record and qualified the girls for states. The girls also swam in the 400 Freestyle Relay, where they claimed 12th and set another school record with their time of 3:44.40.

Fistler later swam in the individual 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle events, where she claimed 14th and 7th with times of 24.98 and 53.93, respectively. Both were season-best times and state qualifiers for Fistler. Later in the 200 Freestyle, Weltyk took 11th with a state-qualifying and season-best time of 1:57.02.

In the 100 Butterfly, Schnur also qualified for states, tying for 10th and swimming a season-best time of 59.47. Yet another state qualifier and Oxford’s highest placement of the tournament, Weltyk took third in the 100 Backstroke, setting a school record with her time of 58.60.

Rounding out the competition with her usual solid skill, senior standout Keira Veltigian took 9th in diving and scored 316 points.

West Bloomfield and Notre Dame Prep

The Wildcat swimmers started the week strong with two victories over West Bloomfield and Notre Dame Prep while hosting both in a trimeet. Oxford took West Bloomfield  113-73 and beat Notre Dame Prep 107-74. The swimmers competed at the same time, but the results were organized to represent three meets.

In the relays, Oxford’s 200 Medley A Relay team of Weltyk, Schnur, Charnstrom and Fistler beat West Bloomfield and took second to Notre Dame prep with a time of 1:55.30.

In the single events, Fistler took home first overall in 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:01.76 and came in second overall in the 100 Freestyle with a finishing time of 56.01.

Weltyk also left the meet with high accolades. She came in first against West Bloomfield and second against Notre Dame in the 50 Freestyle with her season-best time of 25.59. The junior swimmer landed the same placements in the 100 Backstroke with her time of 1:04.35. Weltyk also took first overall in the 100 Breaststroke, which she finished with a time of 1:11.32.

Charnstrom qualified for MISCA with her 200 Individual Medley with her time of 2:23.75, which led her to conquer West Bloomfield and come in second to Notre Dame.

Schnur took first against West Bloomfield and second against Notre Dame in the 100 Butterfly, which she touched the wall after just 1:03.01.

Rounding out the singles events on a high note, sophomore Peyton Bailey beat Notre Dame and came in third against West Bloomfield in the 500 Freestyle with a season best time of 6:05.43.

In the Diving event, sophomores Olivia Roth and Peyton Warren proved themselves, beating Notre Dame and tying for first with score of 105.95.

In the next week, Oxford will swim against Lake Orion on Oct. 11 and at home against Royal Oak on Oct. 16. After that, it’s time for OAA finals preliminaries.