A month ago, the Lawton Public Schools (LPS) district swim team was tearing up the pool at the district swim meet, setting personal records and making waves. Fast forward to Feb. 24-25 and three LPS student-athletes hit the pool in Tulsa to take on the best of the best at the OSSAA State Swim Meet.
After qualifying at the regional swim meet the week prior, MacArthur High School junior Rohan Mariano and sophomore Mikaya Norton and Eisenhower High School senior Braydon Ratliff represented LPS at the 6A State Swimming Championships at the Jenks Aquatic Center.
Norton, a first time qualifier, competed in the girls 100 backstroke, in which she finished 23rd in the preliminary races, coming in with a time of 1:19.33.
Ratliff, who has been to the State Meet four straight years, qualified for the second time in the 100 backstroke. The senior just missed out on earning a spot in the finals, finishing the prelims in 18th with a time of 59.79.
The district’s lone representative in the finals was the junior from MHS Mariano, who for the third straight year qualified in both the 200 and 500 freestyle. In the 200, he earned a spot in the finals with a prelim time of 1:48.95 and then followed that up with a time of 1:48.89 to earn a medal with his seventh place finish. In the 500, Mariano posted a prelim time of 4:48.27 and then bested that with a time of 4:57.70 to finish in sixth place in the finals to earn his second medal of the meet; he medaled in both events as a sophomore and freshman.
Great job to all three swimmers that qualified for State and we look forward to even more representing the district in 2026.