Though teams are told to compete hard throughout the season, sometimes members save their best efforts for the final matches.

This past weekend, members of the men’s and women’s swimming teams were able to conclude their season with their personal best marks at the State Championships at Ohlone College.

In the process, many set school records in their respective events.

The men’s team placed 12th at the state championships with 108 team points. For the women, Ashley Badali and Salina Mesa combined for 52 team points, which put the team in 20th place overall.

Daisy Carrillo also qualified for the state championships, but was disqualified from the 200-yard individual medley due to two false starts.

About the teams’ placements, men’s head coach Joe Abing said, “Sometimes swimming is thought of as an individual sport, but it’s nice to see a team be able to be successful

“You always want the team to improve as the season goes along. I’m proud of the work that it did.”

For the men, Nikos Kostianis won the state title in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:55.48.

The time also marks his best personal mark of the season. He ended up breaking the school records for each race he swam in.

“I didn’t even know at first until my coach told me,” he said about the feats. “This is just icing on the cake to an already great season. I’ve been swimming for seven years and this has been the most fun I’ve had.”

He placed second in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 100-yard butterfly. He missed earning the first place by .10 of a second. In the 100-yard butterfly, he finished with a time of 50.36.

“I was pretty bummed-out about losing by so close of a margin,” he said. “But my teammates got me pumped up before the 200-yard race and it pushed me to make sure that I didn’t lose this time.”

Eddie Kim placed 12th in the 200-yard backstroke and also 14th in the 400-yard individual medley. In the

“The competition was really tough. I barely squeaked in, but I ended up placing higher than I expected.”

“It’s a hard event, I’m glad not that many people signed up for it,” Kim said. “It’s one of the hardest events to compete in. Some guys try to go in and go fast at the beginning.

The record-breaking continued, as the 800-yard freestyle finished with a time of 7:15.87, which earned the team ninth place. That team consisted of Torrence Lee, Tristan Friend, Kim and Kostaianis.

In other relay races, the 400-yard medley team placed 12th with a time of 4:43.89 and the 400-yard freestyle relay team placed 13th in 3:19.14. B.

Both 400-yard teams consisted of Kostianis, Lee, Friend and Jose Aguirre.

For the women, Badali finished sixth in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:03.36, which allowed her to be a state finalist. She also finished in 12th place in the 100-yard breastroke in a time of 1:11.61.

“I felt that I could have had some faster times, but I thought I did pretty well,” she said. “It was cool to represent my team. My coach helped me out a lot, helping me to shave the times.”

She set a new school record in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 32.26. Despite her record-breaking time, she fell short of qualifying for the championship.

However, she was able to qualify for the “B” final, which is set up for those that place ninth through 16th.

Mesa’s time of 27.97 earned her sixth place in the 50-yard butterfly. She got her fastest time of the season by finishing seventh in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:02.39.

Even though not many came away with medals, the coaches and team feel great about their standings and each are proud that their team was able to finish out the season at full strength.

“I was hoping that they’d all improve their personal times and increase their rankings,” women’s head coach Sergio Macias said.

“They stayed focused throughout the whole season and did their best. I can’t ask for more than that.”