Swimming & Diving

Last Saturday, Hockaday’s swimming and diving team placed third in the Southwest Preparatory Conference’s championship swim meet. Senior Bailey Hollingsworth won first place in diving setting a school record. Sophomore Abby Tchoukaleff also set a school record in the 200-meter freestyle and finished second in the race.

Tchoukaleff, freshman Estelle Fisher and sophomore Haylee Salopek placed second, third and fourth in the 500-meter freestyle, all setting personal records and earning valuable points for the team.

While the swimming and diving team traveled to Houston for SPC, they also made so many memories. After the team arrived at their hotel, they had a few hours before, so the entire team crowded into one hotel room. They painted each other’s nails, watched the Olympics, jammed to music and played cards.

“I am proud of the close relationship we all have with each other. It was such a great team,” Tchoukaleff said.

Basketball

Last Thursday afternoon, Hockaday basketball played their first game of the SPC tournament against St. John’s. Despite Hockaday’s best effort, St. John’s barely won the game, sending Hockaday into the consolation bracket.

Senior and captain Claire Jurgensmeyer loved how hard her team played even though they lost the game.

“For all 32 minutes of the game, every single player gave it their best effort,” Jurgensmeyer said. “Even though we lost by very slim margins, everybody played great.”

Their first game in the new bracket was against the Episcopal School of Dallas, and Hockaday routed the Eagles, sending them to the consolation championship game. On Saturday, Hockaday dominated Oakridge and won the consolation championship, finishing SPC in ninth place.

Soccer

Soccer’s first game at SPC was a nailbiter. After Episcopal High School Houston and Hockaday failed to score any goals through regulation and overtime, both teams battled it out in penalty kicks, and Hockaday came out victorious.

Later Friday night, Hockaday played a tough game against Kincaid, and unfortunately, the Daisies lost. Kincaid won the championship game. Hockaday battled ESD for third place on Saturday and beat them, their first time in four years.

One of the highlights of the ESD game came when senior and goalie Emily Fuller scored the game-winning goal, ending everyone’s season with a great memory. Senior and captain Rory Finn is also really proud of how her team handled adversity.

“Throughout the season, we played a few teams that weren’t very respectful of the referees and said rude things to our players, but we didn’t engage with them— even when it was really hard not to,” Finn said.

Story by Kate Woodhouse, Photo and Graphics Editor