The Fountain Hills High School varsity swim team competed in two invitationals last week, including one at the same pool as the state competition. The Falcons’ 5:30 a.m. morning workouts are starting to pay dividends, as the Falcons are nearing school records and state finals.

The boys 200 free relay team dropped five seconds and ended with a fast time of 1:43.68. The four swimmers – Josef Johnson, Space Kingphakorn, Gunnar Wise and JP Cahill – are just .08 away from a new school record, and currently stand 22nd in Division 3. The top 24 relay teams compete at state.

The girls 200 free relay team also dropped 10 seconds to finish with a time of 2:04.48. Grace Clark, Elizabeth Franzone, Kallista Johnson and Alexis Sommerschield are just two seconds from the school record.

Ender Trevena dropped four seconds off his 50 free time and shaved five seconds from his 100 free time. Gunnar Wise finished in the top six for both 100 free and 100 breaststroke.

The Falcons have one last regular season meet this Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Husky Invitational at Chandler High School. Head coach Patti Schultz said the team will have the same number of practices between the Husky Invitational and state preliminaries on Nov. 5, but the swimmers will back off the intensity to rest and focus on finetuning the little things.