Three swimmers share senior night: Henderson, Killosky, West

Tom Keegan
OnwardTrojans.com​

In some ways, senior night for swimmers brings out an even greater sense of pride in athletes than most other sports because so many don’t make it all the way to the finish line.
The grind of two-a-day, rigorous workouts isn’t for everyone. Also, some swimmers peak earlier than others, which can lead to getting out of the pool before senior year.
“It’s just a happy day, but also sad at the same time,” said Mallory Killosky, one of three girls swimmers honored on senior night. “It’s kind of more of a celebration for making it through high school swimming. It’s a lot of hard work and dedication, so once you make it to senior year, it’s definitely exciting, for sure.”
Killosky not only made it, she did so with a bigger smile than ever.
“It’s been a really fun year,” she said.
The butterfly is her best stroke, but she also swims the individual medley. The thought of calling it a career never crossed her mind.
“I’ve enjoyed it all the way through,” she said. “I’ve been swimming since I was 4. It’s never been a choice to not swim. It’s kind of been a lifestyle. I’ve done it for a very long time. It’s kind of all I know.”
IM swimmers who specialize in the fly tend to find the breaststroke the toughest to perfect and vice versa.
“My breaststroke is not the prettiest, but I make it through it. My teammates have helped me make it better than it was,” Killosky said. “Brenley Bonez and Olivia West have been a huge help, and Andrew Alders, our new assistant coach.”
The help she receives in the breaststroke revolves around the same aspect as the help she finds herself giving swimmers who struggle with the butterfly.
“Fixing my kick because I’m not a breaststroker, so I don’t do it right, so they help me with different kicks and strokes and the tempo, just a bunch of little pointers in how to make it faster,” Killosky said. “And they have to kick because a lot of people don’t kick when they do fly because it’s a lot of work.”
Swimmers love this time of year because workouts are scaled back in advance of the biggest meets of the season.
The sectional preliminaries are Feb. 6, the sectional finals Feb. 8 at Hobart.
“After having a good race, it’s a confidence boost, for sure,” Killosky said. “It’s such a good feeling to know your hard work paid off, especially at sectionals and DAC when you’ve had a good race. You feel refreshed.”
Miata Henderson said she was nervous for senior night, the final dual meet of her career, and said she wanted to swim a second faster than she did in both the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle, but anybody who watched her swim at the 2024 sectional at Valparaiso isn’t going to lose sleep over those seconds. They’ll remember her first-place finish long after they forget those times.
Henderson waged a memorable battle with Valpo’s talented swimmer/distance runner Whitney Henderson in the 500 free. Henderson swam a 5:07.45, Anderson a 5:08.26 for second place.
A bout of COVID prevented Henderson from swimming at state last year, so a return trip would be particularly meaningful for her.
“I think I can probably go in the 2 free relay and the 5,” she said. “This year a 5:12 is my best. I added five seconds from last year, but I didn’t taper yet.”
Meeting the state standard offers swimmers a who don’t win their event at sectionals a second path to Indianapolis. The standard for the 500 free is 5:085.7.
“I’m aiming for a 5:05,” Henderson said of her sectional race. “Jenni (Kellstrom, head coach) wants me to break 5 minutes.”
West has goals for times she wants to swim before her career ends, but she also wants to leave something deeper than what a stopwatch can capture.
“I have goals time-wise, and I have goals with the girls,” West said. “I want to leave them all bonded and really nice and connected and I hope they can have a good season next year.”
“I’m definitely going to be watching all of them, really proud. They definitely have a lot for the next few years, which is really nice.”