Last weekend marked a culminating point for many of the upperclassmen on Washington’s boys swimming team. The Pam Pack swimmers rallied late in the meet at Cary to blow past Carrborro to win the program’s first regional championship.

The junior and senior-laden team has put years of work into what it accomplished last week. It dates back even further than the boys’ high-school tenure, too. Most of them have been working since they were young boys, swimming for the teams that call Washington’s Hildred T. Moore Aquatic & Fitness Center home.

“It’s been fun to get to know all these people and to help freshmen and the younger people to help them become better swimmers,” senior Eric Lovenberg said of his years swimming for the Pam Pack.

Eric’s brother Tony, a junior, added, “It’s taken a long time to build it all up. We practice every day and we have fun doing it.”

The first-ever regional title isn’t all that defines the legacy of the senior swimmers. They hope their efforts cultivating the younger swimmers will make Washington a perennial force.

Celebrating last weekend’s title didn’t last too long. The boys know there’s still a lot to accomplish when they travel back to Cary for the state championships. They’re still hungry for more.

“It definitely was great to win regionals, but I’d like to win states, too,” junior Justin Clark said. “It’d be great for the team.”

Workouts haven’t been too intense this week. There’s been a surplus of motivation. The main objective has been staying loose and focused.

“They’re confident and that helps,” coach Spencer Pake said of the team’s experience in the water. “We’re just going to stay the course, stay focused and hopefully things will work out for us on Saturday. The game plan is to go into prelims and have some strong showings, but still save some energy to come back in finals.”

Washington has its events that fuel that confidence. Kevin Andrews and Justin Clark placed first and second, respectively, in the 100-yard backstroke at regionals. The Pam Pack is strong with the relay events, too. Andrews, Mason Beach, A.J. Howard and Tony Lovenberg earned second in the 200-yard medley relay last week. Justin Clark, Beach, Eric Lovenberg and Howard took first in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Clark, the Lovenberg brothers and Andrews teamed up to not only take first in the 400-yard freestyle relay, which was the last event, but also decimated the school record in the process.

Pake believes the Lovenberg brothers will be a sort of sparkplug for the team this weekend.

“You’ve got to really look out for the Lovenberg boys,” he said. “They’re not seeded at the top right now, but you never know what they can do when they get pumped up. I’ve watched them grow. They’re fun to watch in the water.

“I think Kevin Andrews has made a big name for himself in this region, too. You’ve got to look out for him.”

Strong individual efforts will help yield success, but this team has the capability to accomplish something special as a group, too.