It’s amazing to see how much things have changed in Marshall County.

It was only a few years ago that John Marshall High School considered it a win to take one or two swimmers to the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission State Swimming Championships.

Not any longer.

Last Friday, the Lady Monarch swimmers, with exceptional performances from the entire team, found themselves standing atop the podium with Bridgeport High School, tied for the state championship in the Class AAA division. The Monarchs’ 400 freestyle relay team of Ella Finley, Avery Etzel, Savannah Potts and Maitlyn Miller, which had dropped seven seconds earlier in the day Friday to make the championship finals as the sixth seed, dropped time yet again and moved up a spot to fifth, earning valuable points. In the end, when the points were tallied, that effort — and also many others including Adah Aubrey’s seventh-place finish in the 100 backstroke and Sarah Hess’ 11th-place finish in the 100 breaststroke — found the Lady Monarchs celebrating as they were announced as the Class AAA co-champions.

This is the first state swimming championship in the school’s history.

“We were so happy that we brought eight girls here this year and that we were able to coach what we knew was a championship team,” said John Marshall swim coach Timmi Snyder. “These girls did everything that we asked of them. After (Friday) morning’s session when we told them, ‘We’re close, you’ve got to come back and you’ve got to bring your A game’ … they did. They brought their A game. Both our relays (the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay) really stepped up. Sarah Hess and Adah Aubrey, who were in the consolation finals (of the 100 breaststroke and the 100 backstroke, respectively), swam their best races. Every single girl in this second day hit a personal record. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort everyone turned in to help us reach the top.”

Isn’t that what prep sports should be about — challenging youngsters to work hard and perform their best. Snyder and her assistant coach, Anthony Evick, have taken a struggling program and, in just a few short years, turned it into a state champion. That’s impressive.

Of course it helps when you have stars such as Miller (state champion in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle and also named to the All-Tournament Team) and Zoe Zervos (sixth in the both the 50 free and the 100 butterfly), but it takes a team effort to win a state championship. Snyder and Evick have built a culture at the school — and among the swimmers — that allowed that to happen.

Congratulations to the John Marshall High School state swimmers –Miller, Zervos, Potts, Aubrey, Hess, Finley, Etzel and Seanna Leyland — for your work in Morgantown. And to Snyder and Evick? Repeat next year