CARY — It took a little while for the smoke to clear before Justin Clark’s nerves calmed down after he and the Washington boys’ swim team won the 1-A/2-A state championship for the second year in a row.

It was a bittersweet moment for Clark, A.J. Howard, Tony Lovenberg and Kevin Andrews. The four Pam Pack seniors experienced the highest of highs in repeating as champions, but did so in their last high school meet.

For those four, Thursday’s victory — and the undefeated stretch they helped manufacture over the past two years — was the culmination of about 12 years of work. They all worked with the year-round East Carolina Aquatics team to fine tune their craft long before ever reaching the high school ranks.

“The amount of hours they’ve put into training every year, probably in the pool 340 out of 365 days, putting in the yards and getting their strokes better,” coach Spencer Pake said. He leads the Pam Pack teams, while his brother Scott Pake is in charge of the ECA teams. “I’m just really glad that this has happened for them again.”

Andrews added, “It’s been a long ride with all of them. I’ve known them all for a long time. All three of them are my best friends. I’d say it definitely affected our outcome during the meet.”

Those involved often describe swimming as a fraternity. It’s a fitting portrayal considering these seniors have spent roughly two-thirds of their lives swimming with one another.

“It’s been a long trip, and the work has paid off,” Howard said.

Lovenberg added, “It’s going to be tough to overcome this squad.”

Lovenberg took that depiction to another level. He got to compete against his brother, freshman Patrick Lovenberg, in the championship heat for the 200-yard individual medley. It wasn’t the first time he had gone against a sibling, either. He’s swum opposite his older brother, Eric Lovenberg, at past state-championship meets, too.

“It’s a good feeling having someone you know really well,” Tony Lovenberg said of the experience of looking over to see his brothers competing for the same state title. Lovenberg also got to compete with his younger brother on Thursday. The two anchored Washington’s 200-yard freestyle relay team, which took third.

They each went out on top. All four seniors helped Washington dominate the competition by nearly a 70-point margin. Each claimed at least a gold medal as part of the Pam Pack’s two first-place relay teams.

Individually, Andrews, who won the 100-yard backstroke last year as a junior, walked away with the 200-yard freestyle crown this time around. Howard finished third in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Clark and Lovenberg earned fourth in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley, respectively.

“I’m really proud of this team,” Clark said. “We came together after losing two really good seniors from last year. We had two freshmen come and step up, and two sophomores. They really pulled it together for us.”

What these four have helped put together will go down as arguably the most dominant two-year stretch by any team in Washington history. The team’s freshmen and sophomores — those who did so well to step up throughout the postseason — will now be entrusted with the team.

It’ll be difficult to achieve the level of success that Andrews, Howard, Clark and Lovenberg have over the last two years, but Pam Pack swimming has proven it can shatter expectations at any moment.