Pope John Paul II swimmer Eric Ring could barely contain his excitement when asked what made the difference as the Jaguars won a sixth straight Division IV boys state title at the SPAR Aquatic Center in Sulphur on Nov. 20.

“The biggest thing that I noticed at this meet is that we were the loudest team on the deck,” the senior said. “We were cheering each other on for every single race, and we were on fire.”

Ring was on fire in the pool as he took home outstanding swimmer honors for the second straight season. He was a double event winner, earning an All-American consideration time of 1 minute, 39.41 seconds in the 200 freestyle before posting a 4:34.35 in the 500 freestyle. Both set new school records.

“Breaking that 1:40 barrier has been a goal of mine for a while,” Ring said. “It’s th

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