Will Hayon wears his four state medals he earned Feb. 6. – Submitted photo

For the sixth straight season, Sheboygan North improved its standing at the Division 1 state swim meet.

The Golden Raiders finished in eighth place on Feb. 6 at Waukesha South, up five spots from last season. In 2015, they did not have anyone at state.

As usual, junior Will Hayon stole the show.

After taking third and fifth in the 100-yard freestyle the previous two seasons, he switched to the 100 butterfly and finished as runner-up in a school-record time of 47.56 seconds – which ranks second all-time at the state meet.

Greenfield senior Emilio Perez is now No. 1 thanks to his winning time of 47.27.

“It was a good race,” Hayon said. “There’s stuff to take away from it. A couple of turns I was a little off. Obviously the guy who won it is a fast guy. I think I dropped almost a second off my personal-best time. I wish I could’ve touched first and got the record.”

Hayon also swam the 50 free at state for the third year in a row.

He took third for the second straight season in a school-record time of 20.19. That is the fourth-fastest time at state, and the two swimmers ahead of him in the event are both seniors (including the champion Perez).

So next year looks promising for Hayon.

“It’s going to be fun to see what I can swim,” he said. “I have options. I was pushed in the 50 free, so I’ll see if I can go for the record next year. I’m excited to see what events I’ll do.”

Hayon anchored the third-place 400 free relay team (school record 3:08.26) as well, and was joined by sophomore Dylan Dettloff, senior Joe Broghammer and senior Connor Cleveland.

Hayon, Broghammer, junior Logan Pond and Cleveland swam the 200 free relay and finished fourth (school record 1:26.00).

Cleveland was also in the 200 free (ninth) and the 100 free (13th).

Broghammer was in the 100 breaststroke (20th) as well as the 200 medley relay (20th) with Dettloff, sophomore Caleb Webb and Pond.