The Visitation girls swim team won the state title for the 10th year in a row at the Class A swim and dive championship Saturday afternoon at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Visitation didn’t just win, it dominated, gaining the lead during the second event and keeping it the rest of the way, pulling further and further away with every event. It eventually won with a total score of 253, 67 points more than Orono, which took second place as a team.

Visitation got contributions from across the board. Junior Katie Miller took home first place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:03.22, with teammate Tessa Lindstrom coming in third with a time of 5:06.64. Junior Maggie Farley also took second in the 100-yard butterfly event with a time of 55.77.

The championship victory feeling is nothing new to Visitation. Winning the title Saturday was its 10th consecutive state meet victory, an entire decade of being the queens of Class A swim. Miller said it was amazing to be a part of something as long-standing as the school’s 10-year run.

“It’s really, really exciting,” she said. “This year especially, we’ve learned to not take everything for granted. We still have to put in all the hard work like those that came before us. I’m really, really proud of everyone that worked hard this year, especially those whose first state meet it was. I could not be more excited.”

Head coach Nate Linscheid said the culture of the program has been nothing short of incredible during the 10-year run.

“In regard to the culture, you think about the values that we have,” he said. “The value of hard work. We have optional dry land practices where almost every girl comes if she can, and those are throughout the year. The value of accountability, where everyone is doing their best because they know that everyone else relies on each other. It’s a great culture to be a part of.”

Linscheid said that the most important thing is that the girls on the team simply do their best, and that the team’s philosophy is welcoming all girls, regardless of experience.

“We try to, as much as possible, be inclusive of the girls that are on the team, whether they’ve never swam a stroke before or they’re coming in as All-Americans,” he said. “Everybody is in a place where they can become the best swimmer they can be. Regardless of where we’re seeded or placed at the meet, I want every girl to swim their best at this meet. We’ve been fortunate to have a number of girls be able to do that over time.”

With several great swimmers on the team who aren’t graduating just yet, the team doesn’t plan on their reign to end just yet.

“Nobody does it alone, two people don’t do it alone,” Linscheid said “So we need a lot of help. We’ve got others coming back, and hopefully girls who weren’t here that got close can be a part of this next year.”