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EDWARDSVILLE - Scout Jackson, a junior for Edwardsville's girls' swimming team, had herself a big day at the IHSA sectional meet, held Nov. 9, 2024, at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center.
Jackson qualified individually for the state swimming meet in Westmont by winning the 100-yard backstroke at 55.07 seconds, and the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.32 seconds, and was also a part of the 200-yard medley relay team that qualified at 1:43.39, and the 200-yard freestyle relay, coming in at 1:35.41 - both pool records.
Scout Jackson is a Spencer Homes Female Athlete Of The Month for Edwardsville.
On top of that, Jackson's time of 55.07 in the 100 backstroke qualified her for the USA Swimming Speedo Winter Junior Championship meet, coming Dec. 13-14 in Austin, Tex.
On top of that, the Tigers won their 11th consecutive sectional championship with 330 points, far outdistancing second-place Chatham Glenwood, who had 190 points, and third place O'Fallon, with 153 points.
In a post-meet interview, Jackson expressed her happiness for herself and her teammates, who swam well all throughout the meet and the season.
"I'm feeling really good," Jackson said. "I'm feeling all of my hard work has paid off, and I feel like since I got my Junior Nationals cut, I'm a lot less nervous for state, now. I think the whole team is feeling really excited for state, since we threw down some really good times today."
Jackson has been a key swimmer for the Tigers since her freshman year, and felt that her swims and efforts went very well.
"I feel really good about my efforts today," Jackson said. "I went some really good times, and I'm really proud of myself. I think the whole team did a really great job today, just staying positive, and having a good time the whole meet."
Jackson did have some very simple goals going into the sectional meet.
"My goals, mainly just to make state in everything," Jackson said, "and then, in looking back, I just wanted to get my winter Juniors cut, which I did. I think I went above and beyond the goals I wanted to reach today. So, I'm pretty satisfied with myself."
Jackson and her teammates are raring to go to the state meet, and perform well in Chicagoland.
"We got three team records in our relays today," Jackson said, "and I think those relays are going to do really well at state. We qualified in a lot more events for state, so, I think everyone's feeling really excited."
Jackson is expecting nothing less that good things to happen for the Tigers at the state meet next weekend.
"Yeah, definitely," Jackson said. "I think it's going to be a lot of fun."
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