Lane third at state

Porter Lane swam to a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly at state. He also placed 10th in the 100 breaststroke.

Porter Lane capped one of the best state performances ever for an Aledo swimmer this past Saturday. The senior placed third in the boys 100-yard butterfly finals at the Lee & Jo Jamail Texas Swim Center at the University of Texas in Austin.

Lane is one of five members of the Aledo swim team to compete in the Class 5A State Swimming and Diving Meet. He was joined by four Ladycats, juniors Haley Roberson, Victoria Crews and Avery Faulkner, along with sophomore Julia Gordy.

Lane posted a finals time of 50.05 seconds to capture the bronze medal. He entered the meet with a seeding time of 50.14 seconds, which he eclipsed with a time of 49.96 in the preliminaries to stand fourth entering the finals.

"Porter made a commitment last year to swimming full-time and has - pardon the pun - dove in with both feet. His work ethic through practices is an example to all my athletes," Aledo coach Meghan Roberson said. "It’s going to practice 10 times a week and working with intention, it’s diet, strength training, body care, and recovery, being coachable and making necessary changes. 

"There is so much more than a fast swim on Saturday that led to his podium. The effort that he has been putting in for over a year - and really, all the years of swimming he’d been doing - that culminated in his bronze medal swim. He earned every second of that swim and the opportunity to stand on that podium."

Lane also placed 10th in the 100 breaststroke, second in the consolation division. He clocked a time of 58.79.

Haley Roberson competes in the 200-yard individual medley at state, one of two events in which she finished ninth, along with the 500 freestyle.

Bouncing back

Haley Roberson placed ninth in both the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle, leading the consolation division in both events. She improved greatly from her preliminary swims in both events.

She was ninth in the 200 IM preliminaries (top eight advance to championship finals), posting a time of 2 minutes and 12 seconds, improving to 2:08.04 on the second day. She was 13th in the 500 free preliminaries with a 5:14.54, improving to 5:09.14 on Day 2.

Roberson was battling back from a bout with the flu the week before state, which knocked her down physically.

"Friday’s swims were rough and just weren’t enough to put her into that A final that we anticipated for either event. She was disappointed in herself and how she’d swam," coach Roberson said. "Saturday was redemption for what she would have liked to have done on Friday. She easily won both of her consolation finals by a body length or better." 

Her 200 IM time would have been good enough for fourth place overall, had she been in the championship final. 

"While neither of her swims were best times, I believe on Saturday she swam the best she could given the physical hit she took with illness," coach Roberson said. "She learned some hard lessons at this meet that I think will stick with her for a while. I expect to see her back at state next year with something to prove."

Roberson also swam on the girls 400 free relay that placed 23rd with a time of 3:55.82.

Season as a whole

"If this season had a theme, it would be something like 'Roll with the punches' or 'You plan, God laughs,'" Coach Roberson said. "What we thought we would have this season wasn’t at all what we got, but the outcome was still outstanding. 

"We knew Porter would have a good season, but I think his ending surpassed anything we’d hoped for. The freshmen boys surprised us with what they’re capable of and have proven to be a group to keep an eye on."

Coach Roberson said a few newcomers to the team (who’ve been in Aledo all along) were pleasant surprises.

She noted Cade Catlin in the backstroke at regionals put up a great swim that he’d been working toward all season. Tyler Jackson joined the team after band to fill some relay holes, and Evan Bradley’s butterfly have all been strong swimmers that joined the team this year. 

On the girl’s side, the team lost backstroker Natalie Huston at the beginning of the season to injury, and Jacqueline Gruber couldn’t finish out the season. The flu really hit the team hard through championship season too. 

"These setbacks were doors opening to let some of our girls really show what they had to contribute to the team and totally step up when we needed them," coach Roberson said. "Avery Faulkner and Julia Gordy were the biggest examples of ones who really took the 'next up' opportunity to show what they could do. And with their outstanding performances at regionals, we were able to take a relay to state – I can’t ask for more!"

Looking ahead

Coach Roberson said her program seems to be in a unique cycle. For the past couple of seasons they had upperclass boys and underclass girls, and now things are shifting.

"Our boys have been our leadership for the past couple of years. We have a strong bunch of junior girls who will lead us next year and have been an integral part of the team since their start – Haley Roberson, Victoria Crews, Avery Faulker and Corah Satterfield. Behind them we have some strong sophomore girls as well," the coach said. "I expect them to be leaders to the team while we work on bringing up this group of freshmen. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes in next year’s freshmen class as well. 

"Seasons like this provide exposure for the team and remind Aledo that even though we don’t have a pool here, we still have a strong program with big successes that’s worth being a part of."