KELLY TOWNSHIP-- Some members of the swim team at Lewisburg Area High School prove it doesn't matter what team you're on, everyone is a winner.
The boys are getting praise for their actions at a recent swim meet when they cheered for and encouraged a member of the other team.
Jacob Feurstein, Felix Hernandez, and Austin Blakeslee are members of Lewisburg Area High School's swim team. In addition to swimming, the boys tell Newswatch 16 their coach teaches them life lessons.
"We've been taught by our coaches, make sure you cheer for the other team and make sure you have good sportsmanship," Hernandez said.
That's exactly what the boys did at last Friday's swim meet between Lewisburg and Towanda Area High School. When the boys noticed one swimmer, senior Annie Roof, was about one pool length behind everyone else, they gave her some encouragement.
"It's a really hard thing to go up there and do it in front of the crowd and stuff like that," Feuerstein said.
According to Annie's mom, Annie has special needs. She usually comes in last place in the meets but she doesn't mind because she loves swimming. When the three boys from Lewisburg cheered for Annie, Annie's mom says it meant the world to her family. She wrote an email to Lewisburg Area High School, praising the boys' actions, and it was shared to the district's Facebook page.
The swimmers tell Newswatch 16 they don't even remember that particular race. They just remember cheering for all of the swimmers.
"I just remember cheering for a lot of people, yeah, cheering for a lot of people," Blakeslee said.
The boys tell Newswatch 16 they are happy they could make Annie's day and wish her the best on the swim team.
"Sports can get caught up in a lot of negativity. So this was a good way to show sportsmanship between teams even," Feuerstein said.
"It's just nice to know that we could make someone's day just by doing little things like cheering them on for their race," Blakeslee said.
Annie Roof has been a member of the Towanda Area Swim Team for all four years of her high school career. Her mom says she wants the Lewisburg students to know how kind her family thinks they are and says the world needs more people like them.