Whitehall sophomore Kendall Bashore captured two medals at the District XI Class 3A Swimming Championships on Feb. 20 and 21 at Parkland High School.

On Day 1, Bashore sprinted to a fourth place finish in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.27.

“I was shocked,” Bashore said. “I think, for me, I had a good mindset today. I went into it, knowing I was gonna do well, and it paid off. It’s surreal. From my school, a girl has never gotten [a medal] in like 10 years.

I did drop my best time by a lot. My goal was to have a good, fast start and then just keep up my pace from there, and then have a good fast turn, and out of my turn, strong underwaters and have a good breakout. From there, I kept my head down and went for it.”

On Day 2, Bashore took fourth place in the 100 free with a time of 55.85.

“I thought the 100 was my better shot for a medal, and if I got a medal in the 50, I wanted a medal in the 100 too,” she said. “Again, I tried to be in a good mindset, and my friends helped. The first 50, I did well, and then the second 50, I just tried to keep it up, and that last lap, I had to dig deep and push hard for that. I knew I was swimming fast and going a good time, so I knew it was good enough to place and get a medal.”

Whitehall coach Emma Billings said she had all the confidence in the world in Bashore.

“She was seeded fifth, and she knew that she could go the times to get fourth, and I think, especially doing the 50 and swimming so well, it just gave her the confidence that she knew she could get fourth in the 100,” Billings said.

Bashore, Greta O’Brien, Ryann Giedl, and Kyra Giedl placed seventh in the 200 free relay in 1:47.96 and seventh in the 400 free relay in 4:02.77.

Zoey Kreiner, Jenna Giedl, Ryann Giedl, and Bella Molina were ninth in the 200 medley relay in 2:12.81.

“It was exciting,” said Coach Billings. “Everyone dropped so much time, and it was really successful. I cried after the medley relay because I was so happy, and it was the first event, and they all swam so well, I just cried. Overall, they did really good.”

Cory Sommers, Anthony Bloom Morales, Griffin Werner, and Sebastian Lora came in 10th in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:55.51.

Werner, Sommers, Jazdiel Arvelo, and Lora were 12th in the 200 free relay in 1:42.65, and Werner, Sommers, Arvelo, and Lora came in 10th in the 400 free relay in 3:48.97.

“This year, we focused a lot on technique and fixing a lot of things stroke wise, and next year, we can focus more on getting faster,” said Billings. “I’m hoping that we can have some individual qualifiers for the boys and that our relays can move up in the seedings.”