Not every exciting race comes down to a spot on the podium. Sometimes, it’s just a race in a heat. For Jersey Shore, that was on display in the first of two heats in the girls 400 free relay, the final girls event on Thursday for Day 2 of the District 4 championships.

The Bulldogs’ foursome of Makayla Wrench, Addison Miller, Rhian Prowell and Sierra Derr swam a time of 4:24.83, beating out Central Columbia’s team of Mackenzie Thompson, Quinn Swab, Caroline Comstock and Lily Donald by just 0.02 seconds in an exciting race.

“It was amazing to watch them. That’s the best they ever swam that race. It was a PR for them. A lot of them had PRs on their splits,” Jersey Shore coach Sara Fisher said. “They raced hard. Yeah, it wasn’t for podium but was for that heat and they all worked hard to get that finish. That’s what we wanted and all of them are seniors. It was one of my senior relays and I told them it was a great way to finish out the race for sure.”

Those seniors gave it their all and capped their careers with one exciting finish for the orange and black-clad fans in attendance.

The Bulldogs ended Thursday’s second day of competition at the District 4 championships without having a swimmer reach the top-4 for the podium. But the Bulldogs had nine swimmers qualify for districts, however only eight made the trip due to one being injured.

“I’m coming in as a new coach to a new sport, but I was very fortunate to get athletes who are talented and all hard working. I enjoyed coaching and what, 13 this year, and I had eight that I gotta take to districts to take that many,” Fisher said. “So I was like most of the team got to make it to districts and I was happy to see them have that opportunity. They raced, even if they weren’t PRs, they did their best that they had.”

Jersey Shore did see two swimmers finish in the top-8 of their respective events.

Jersey Shore had two swimmers in the finals of the girls 100 free race with junior Brooke Charney and freshman Emily Shemory both swimming. Shemory swam a time of 58.76 which would have been good for sixth, but was unfortunately disqualified. Charney swam a time of 59.67 to give her an eighth-place finish.

Charney was also a seventh-place finisher in the 10 breast. The junior Bulldog swam a 1:16.01 in the event for seventh and was less than a second behind sixth-place finisher Elizabeth Denlinger of Athens (1:15.28).

Jersey Shore’s Macy Wilton took home an eighth-place finish in the 100 back as she swam a time of 1:08.93. She was the only Bulldog to swim either heat of the event.

“They both worked hard all year. They’re both talented in what they do and I wasn’t surprised,” Fisher said. “They put in the time, they put in the effort, they worked hard and I’m glad it showing in their swims. They had great starts and looked amazing no matter their place, their time. They swam great and looked great.”

Prowell competed in the first of three heats in the girls 100 breast.

Fisher was glad to see the growth of numerous Jersey Shore swimmers from the beginning of the season to Thursday’s district competition. The Bulldogs may have only had one medalist this year — Emily Shemory took a fourth-place medal on Wednesday — but the swimmers gave it their all and saw success in their own right.

“Some of them have definitely seen their best times this season. I know some of them had goals that they maybe didn’t reach, but I said that’s fine. You tried. It’s a goal, maybe you get it and maybe you don’t. But I think a lot of them did show growth throughout the season.”