Mary Beth Blocher jokes that they are her "claim to fame."
They are cousins Kevin and Maggie Behrens, both sectional winners and state medalists during their time at Munster. Kevin won state in the 200 medley relay, the 100 back and the 100 fly. Maggie won medals in the 200 medley relay, the 200 IM, and the 100 back.
"Their success has been my motivation for years," Blocher said. "They got me started when I was in third grade, and have always encouraged me to work hard and keep going."
Blocher has had no trouble keeping the family tradition alive and well.
As a freshman last year, Blocher won three sectional titles in the 100 free, the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay. She finished 18th in state in the 100 free, ninth in the 200 free relay, and fifth in the 400 free relay.
This past week, the super sophomore hit the mother lode. Blocher won four sectional titles, including a sectional record in the 100 free (52.22) and sectional as well as pool records in both the 200 medley relay (1:44.10) and 400 free relay (3:30.75).
"I was really excited to do as well as I did in sectional," Blocher said. "You always want to do well, but when it really happens like that, it's pretty cool."
The idea of getting a medal at state is also pretty cool.
"I'm swimming good right now; my times are coming down," Blocher said. "I have set a personal best in the 100 free twice in the past few weeks, against Chesterton and again at sectional. I am hoping I can place in the top eight in either the 100 or the 50 (free)."
Blocher swam breast stroke in age group, but switched to sprints when she entered high school.
"My coach thought I had a better future in sprints," she said. "Turned out to be a good call. I have had a lot of success in sprints. I can just go full out without worrying about pacing myself."
Munster, currently ranked No. 12 in state, has at least one swimmer in every state event this weekend.
"We think having someone in every event really increases our chances of scoring a lot of points and placing high," she said. "We have such a deep team this year. We are really confident that this weekend is going to be very good for us."
The Seahorses have zeroed in on winning the 200 medley relay.
"We are seeded at the top in the medley right now," Blocher said. "We think we have a really good chance of winning that one. We also believe we can get a top eight finish in the 400 free relay. We've been working hard all year for this weekend."
After this weekend, it wouldn't be surprising if the Behrens family were talking about Blocher as their own claim to fame.
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