Salisbury’s Sarah Bobeck burst onto the swimming scene as a sophomore, and was fortunate enough to earn a trip to states last winter.

But one thing was missing. She had to take that trip to Bucknell University alone last winter as the only Falcon female, with some of her teammates just missing the cut to compete at states.

This year she won’t be the only Falcon swimmer to make that trip back to Bucknell’s Kinney Natautorium. Bobeck will be the only Falcon to swim an individual event when Class 2A competition opens on Friday, but Salisbury will also have a relay team looking to earn a medal at states this weekend.

“Being the only girl last year and having to experience it on my own was tough,” Bobeck said. “Having the girls there with my this year is really exciting. Since the beginning of the season, the relay team made it a goal to try to qualify for states. Being able to say that we achieved our goal, and that we made it to states is something that I will never forget.”

That 400 medley relay team, which is composed of Bobeck, freshman Kerry Seiler, junior Madison Jewell and senior Madaket Chassard, captured district gold to qualify for states. Bobeck estimated it was the first Salisbury girls relay team to make it to states in eight years.

As far as Bobeck goes, the Falcon junior won districts in both the 50- and 500-yard freestyle events. She’ll race both events at states. She is seeded 17th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:21.46. In the 50-yard freestyle, her seed time of 24.65 seconds ranks 22nd out of the Class 2A competitors.

Bobeck is well aware that seed times mean little come this time of the season. It’s more about how you perform under the brightest lights on the biggest stage, and she realizes much can happen with swimmers seeded so close together.

“It’s really exciting to finally have reached my goal of earning gold in both my individual events,” Bobeck said. “I have worked hard since my freshman year, so it feels really rewarding to be able to say that I won both events.

“Like any other meet, my goal is to drop time in both of my events. Hopefully by dropping time, I can qualify for finals. I’m comfortable with my seeding going into the meet. Looking at the times for both events, I have noticed that they are very close, but that just means that anything can happen.”

While she won the 50-yard freestyle at districts by just one-hundredth of a second, she had a bit more of a cushion en route to her 500-yard freestyle victory. She’s training for both equally since she stood atop the district podium.

“Since I made it in both events, I’m splitting my time with training for both of them,” Bobeck said. “Although the 50-yard freestyle is my favorite event because it’s a sprint, the 500 allows me to demonstrate my versatility in the pool.

“The only thing different I’m doing in my practices is focusing on technique and trying to work on the kinks in my swims. Other than that, the training has stayed consistent. I also have been focusing on preparing mentally for the meet. I am aware of the competition that I will be facing, so its’ important to be relaxed and comfortable as I enter states.”