It isn’t a rebuilding season for the Quaker Valley girls swim team. It’s more like the Quakers have embarked on a retooling process.
“The team has been doing very well and working hard to fill the spots of the many talented swimmers and diver who graduated last year,” Alexa Westwood said. “The season is going well with the girls being undefeated (at 3-0) in our section and having the relay cuts in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The relays are my favorite events because it reminds me that swimming is a team sport, and they are the most exciting part of the meet to me.
“I hope and expect many of my teammates to complete their goal times and cuts that they’ve worked hard to get and for those who have them to improve their seed times for MACs and WPIALs.”
Westwood, who recently turned 18, normally competes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, the relays, “and anything my team needs me to swim,” she said. In a section meet Jan. 5 at Beaver Falls, Westwood swam in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles along with the 200 free and 400 free relays.
She is in her fourth season of swimming for the Quakers and is a four-year starter in lacrosse. The 5-foot-6 dual sport athlete is a midfield/attacker on the Quaker Valley girls lacrosse team and a member of Best Buddies.
She earned the lacrosse team’s sportsmanship award as a freshman and was named the offensive player of the year as both a sophomore and junior. She also was selected to the WPIAL second team in Class 2A the past two seasons.
The QV senior has a 3.96 GPA and will continue her education while competing in lacrosse at Grove City, where she will be a double major in elementary and special education.
“The elementary education program (at Grove City) provides classroom experience starting in your freshman year,” Westwood said, “and 96% of the graduates are employed within six months of graduation.”
After college, Westwood eventually hopes to be working as a teacher at Quaker Valley and coaching the girls lacrosse team.
The talented dual-sport athlete was named homecoming queen for 2025-26 at the QV-Hopewell football game Sept. 26 at Chuck Knox Stadium.
Last spring, Westwood served as a captain on the QV girls lacrosse team, which qualified for the PIAA Class 2A playoffs by defeating Indiana, Seton LaSalle and Blackhawk in the district tournament before losing to Chartiers Valley, 10-8, in the semifinal round.
Westwood was named second team all-section when she clicked for 36 goals and a team-high 27 assists and ranked among the team leaders in two other categories, ground balls and caused turnovers. She netted a career-high five goals against Indiana.
“I expect this to be a great year for QV girls lacrosse,” Westwood said. “We have several experienced returning players as well as a strong incoming freshman class. I hope we have an exceptional season.”
An Edgeworth resident, Westwood also coaches swimming and lacrosse while working as a student teacher and a lifeguard at Edgeworth Elementary School.
Westwood and Kendra Hines are co-captains on the QV girls swim team. Marcus Zhan and Austin Young are co-captains on the boys squad. All four are seniors.
“So far, the season has been going great. The girls team is undefeated in the section,” Hines said. “A lot of the girls on the team have really stepped up, swimming events they don’t normally swim, which has helped us stay undefeated in the section.
“Our goals for the second half of the season are to continue to stay undefeated in the section and hopefully become section champs. After that, we hope we can perform well at WPIALs and hopefully advance to states.”
After graduation, the 17-year-old Hines plans to study business in college.
This year’s MAC championships will take place Feb. 13-14 at West Allegheny. The WPIAL Class 2A swim finals will be held Feb. 26-27 at Pitt’s Trees Pool.