![Alexander Oki ‘28 picks up trash in the lower parking lot Feb. 20. According to Keep America Beautiful, the majority of the trash found on both roads and waterways consists of fast food wrappers and packaging, receipts and plastic beverage bottles. Clubs like the National Honor Society (NHS) offer students the opportunity to earn service hours by cleaning up the trash in the parking lots. “[The trash] makes us look very unhygienic and unmotivated to be a proper school,” Emberlyse Vidal ‘28 said. “It makes us look like we just don't care about our students' environments.”](https://rockmediaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260220_1355020-2-1200x904.jpg)
The waves in the pool thrash against the swimmers, from the rumbling cheers of the crowd to the strong but precise strikes from each of the swimmers.
Each member of the team gathers at the end of lane five to cheer on the four girls in the 400 Freestyle Relay, creating a roar from the fans and athletes when the Jaguars are just down by one point.
The Big Cat Brawl took place at Littleton High School and took place against 11 total teams on Dec. 5 and Dec. 6. Admission was $5, and concessions were provided for both athletes and spectators in the gym. Warmups for prelims started at 2:00 p.m., with preliminaries starting at 3:30 p.m. and ending around 6:30 p.m. Warmups for finals started at 11:30 a.m., with the finals starting at 1:00 p.m. and ending around 4:00 p.m.
“I think that Rock Canyon is doing really well. We have a lot of girls, and everyone qualified for a lot of events,” Josie O’Meara ‘26 said.
The Jags competed in 11 different events, where each athlete was allowed to compete in up to four events: two individual and two relays. Captain Zoe Solano ‘26 took the team’s only first place win in the 100 Breaststroke event and was in the top three in the 200 Free Relay and 200 Medley Relay.
Due to a club team qualifying meet–the Pioneer Open–that took place on the same day, many team members had to pick between the two. 36 team members competed at the meet. For each event during the qualifiers, the top 18 were qualified for finals, including at least one swimmer per school, but no more than three swimmers.
“Everyone swam very well, yesterday in prelims and today in finals,” Solano said.
Gaby Hefter ‘26 placed top five in the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly. Avery Clements ‘28 also placed top five in her individual events–500 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke–with Macie Cennamo ‘28 placing fifth in the 100 Backstroke.
“[For the rest of the season] I think we’re going to do really well,” Solano said. “Everyone’s super excited, and this was our first big meet, so it was a taste of what really huge, fun meets are like.”
The next meet is a senior night meet against Legend High School at Northridge Recreation Center at 4:00 p.m. on Dec. 16.
