Freedom High School senior, Shannon Howell, won the silver medal in the 500 freestyle at the PIAA State Swimming and Diving Championships last weekend at Bucknell University.

"It's definitely unbelieveable because my freshman year in high school, my goal was to make the podium at states, but senior year, to get runner-up on the podium, I couldn't believe it," Howell said.

Howell's time was 4:57.09

"I went into this meet hoping, thinking I could drop a second from my district time, so the fact that I dropped three seconds was unbelieveable to me, and my coach [Jon Larson] was so proud I accomplished that," said Howell.

The Patriot senior also placed second in preliminaries

"I definitely was really nervous and anxious to swim the race, but once I got in, I felt confident and smooth in the water. I definitely didn't want to go into finals and not do it again," said Howell. "My mindset was to do exactly what I did in the morning. I took it out the same. I died a little at the end, but overall, I had a solid race."

Last year, Howell placed 11th in the same event.

"I definitely owe it to my coaches [Larson and Ryan Woodruff] and being positive all season, working hard, and staying focused. They both helped me out tremendously," Howell said.

For Howell, the reality of a silver medal still has not sunk in.

"Not really. I can't really believe this happened. My parents and I were so shocked this year," she said.