CHERRY TWP — Moniteau High School has no swimming team.

The school definitely has swimmers.

Sophomores Josie Reott and Ashton Huff, along with junior Regan Kelly, are Moniteau students who competed in the District 9 meet last season as independents. All three placed in their respective events.

“Ashton and I used to swim for the Slippery Rock Eels club,” Reott said. “Regan and I swim for the Butler YMCA Barracudas now and Ashton’s going to join us there in January.

“We’ve competed in club meets through the Eels in the past, but we wanted to do high school competition, too. That’s when we found out we could enter the district meet as independents.”

Reott placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in last year’s district meet.

The trio generated qualifying times through swimming at Slippery Rock High School home meets at the Slippery Rock University pool.

“We weren’t actually part of the competition at those meets, but we were timed so we had something to go on entering the district meet,” Reott said.

Now the girls want a little bit more.

Two more swimmers — Reott’s younger sister, Sydney, and Baily Trettel — will be freshmen at Moniteau next year. The five would-be competitive swimmers are hoping to form the first official Moniteau High School swim team.

That effort is being spearheaded by Amy Trettel, Baily’s mother.

“These girls are all very good swimmers,” Mrs. Trettel said. “To perform under the Moniteau name would bring the school some good recognition.

“It’s a shame, really ... Kids in this school district work so hard and improve through a swim club program, then have nowhere to go with it.”

Moniteau High School has no pool. Neither do Mars, Knoch or Freeport high schools, which all have swimming teams competing favorably in the WPIAL.

Trettel said she plans to talk to Moniteau athletic director John Stoughton about forming an official high school swim team.

“I have no idea what the whole process entails,” Trettel said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get this rolling.

“If they need a paid coach, give me a dollar and I’ll do it.”

Kelly placed fourth in the 50 freestyle and sixth in the 100 butterfly at last year’s District 9 meet. Swimming for the Butler YMCA team since she was 7, Kelly has also swam at Knoch home meets.

“We’ve done the research of what would be required for Moniteau to have an official team,” Kelly said. “Because there’s only three of us, we can’t be a team. You need four swimmers to form a relay and you have to have a relay to be a team.

“We’ll have enough next year. I would love for that (Moniteau forming a swim team) to happen.”

Kelly is hopeful of swimming in college down the road. Westminster, Pitt and Gannon are among the schools she is checking out.

Stoughton said he has not been contacted about the prospect of forming an official high school swim team.

“I’m not opposed to it,” he said. “I just don’t know what the logistics are because I haven’t looked into it.

“We’d have to take care of the financial obligations, do some background checking ... It is something we’d consider. I just haven’t heard from or talked to anyone about this yet.”

Trettel is hopeful the team will form for the benefit of her daughter and the other girls involved.

“I want my daughter to enjoy participating on a team for her high school,” she said. “I went to Moon and did gymnastics there, volleyball, etc. It’s a positive experience being able to represent your school in any sport and I want Baily to know what that’s like.”