The ladies finished a perfect 6-0 in league meets and will attempt to make it three straight regional crowns, while the men also went 6-0 and hope to hoist their first regional plaque since 2021.

“We start every year with similar goals: the first is to get better every day. Next is to win the league title and then focus on the championship season,” said head coach Todd Conklin, the 2024 national Coach of the Year. “Anytime you go into a regional championship, you know the competition will be better, and they will all be better. It does not matter what we have done because we don’t focus on the past; we focus on this weekend, and I know the kids will be ready and up for the challenge.”

“Our team goal is to win the regional championship, and we expect everyone to contribute points and maintain a positive, supportive environment,” said sophomore Addison Lawson. “There’s definitely pressure to win the championship, especially with all the hard work we’ve put in this season.”

“I would say our goal would be to swim as fast as possible and be the best swimmers we can be. We are also working toward winning the national title for both the women’s and men’s teams, which we are definitely capable of,” said freshman Daniel Peterson.

Desiree Putt

Conklin should feel confident in his student-athletes as they head to regionals. Not only are the Jayhawks a combined 12-0 in conference meets, but they have also won those events decisively, with JCC collecting more points in their two teams than the competition combined. On top of that, they have earned eight Region 3 Athlete of the Week awards, with four coming from the men (Cameron Milewski twice, Zach Johnson and Peterson) as well as four from the ladies (Roxanne Lothian twice, Desiree Putt and Lawson).

“Both our teams have positioned themselves well for the three-day regional event and will have a lot of opportunities to win events, set program records, and bring home some regional hardware,” said Conklin. “As coaches, this is our exciting time. We get to see all the hard work during a grueling season pay off and see what else we need to do for the national championship meet in a few weeks.”

While regionals are the next target on this journey for the Jayhawks, both teams see this as goal two of three, with the biggest fish being a team victory at nationals.

“Regionals are super important for nationals. They’re a perfect chance to fine-tune our race strategies, get used to the championship atmosphere, and see where we stand against strong competition before the big one,” said Lawson.

“Regionals are really important for preparing for nationals because they are very similar, just on a shorter timeline,” said Peterson. “They can help us get into the right mindset and show us what we still need to improve for nationals.”

“Regionals is very important; it gives us one last chance to see what we need to fix in our swims to be prepared to swim our best races in nationals,” said freshman Cassie Lyon. “My goal for us is to win nationals again.”

Nationals will have to wait; the Region 3 championships take place at Erie Community College’s Burt Flickinger Center this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.