AUSTIN – The Dripping Springs High School girls swim team placed sixth overall in the state at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) State Swimming and Diving Championships Feb. 22 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
In doing so, Grace Rabb, a senior and newcomer to Dripping Springs, who moved from Minnesota, captured the gold medal in the Class 6A girls 200-yard individual medley (1:56.40), while breaking the 6A and state record set in 2008 held by Mary Belk (1:56.56) swimming for Westlake High School.
Rabb, who has signed with the University of Florida, was on the podium again receiving her second gold medal after winning the girls 100-yard backstroke (53.01), both winning times qualifying as an automatic All-American and she was named the UIL Swimmer of the Year.
Rabb was the only women’s swimmer to set a 6A and state record at the meet.
“Going after the state record was one of my ultimate goals, it’s very rewarding and I’m very proud of myself. I’m also honestly forever grateful for the opportunity to swim with Drip, coach [Michael]Hoskovec was very nice in including me,” Rabb said after stepping down from the podium. “Ever since I joined the team, they invited me in, I feel welcomed and I’ve created a family with them.”
“This is definitely a break-through year for us and Grace is a part of that, but the most important thing is her ability to fit in with the team, the work ethic, attitude and believe in the team goals already established,” coach Hoskovec said. “We’ve got a team who has welcomed an incredible athlete with open arms and I’m really proud of these kids.”
In the 500-yard freestyle, Laurel Hoskovec, a junior, improved her seed time of 5:03.82 to make it to the finals and earned seventh place with a 4:58.19, while setting a new school record and All-American consideration.
Swimming for her fourth and final year for Dripping Springs at the state meet, senior Macie McCurry, who signed with the University of Illinois at Chicago, helped the girls relay team break school records and some of her own. The team of McCurry, Fairlane Bynum, Lexi Landrum and Hoskovec finished the 200-yard freestyle relay in fifth with an All-American consideration time of 1:35.81. The bronze medal time was 1:35.69. McCurry led the team off the starting block breaking a 17-year-old team record with a 23.82.
The team of McCurry, Hoskovec, Landrum and Rabb finished the final event of the meet, the girls 400-yard freestyle relay, with an automatic All-American qualifying time of 3:26.59. McCurry would again lead the team off the starting block with a 51.57 time, breaking her own school record. McCurry wiped tears away as she talked about her final swim at state for Dripping Springs.
“It’s been incredible and so much fun. I had a really bad shoulder injury when I started high school and thought I would have to quit,” McCurry said. “Coach Hoskovec has helped me so much with my shoulder, we worked so, so hard and I’m now going off to swim at college.”
The boys team also competed at State. Zach Collins, a junior, finished in 18th place overall in the 100-yard backstroke. The men's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Collins, Nathan Nolan, Connor Caffrey and Landon Bucher finished in 20th place overall. Their time of 1:24.95 at the regional meet is an All-American consideration time.
