It wasn’t a perfect day for the Free State High boys swimming and diving team, but it was close.

The Firebirds claimed seven individual titles Saturday at the Sunflower League meet at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center, but somehow that wasn’t enough to win the team title. FSHS was third, 45 points behind champion Olathe East and 27 behind second-place Shawnee Mission East.

Lawrence High was ninth.

“We wanted to win or get second, but it didn’t happen,” FSHS junior Alex Brunfeldt said. “We got third, which is still pretty good.”

No kidding. The Firebirds were mighty impressive, as Brunfeldt won the 500-yard freestyle, junior Chris Wolff took the 100 free, sophomore Chris Sellon claimed the 200 IM crown and sophomore Anthony Portela cruised in the 50 free and 100 butterfly.

The four also earned relay titles in the 200 medley and 400 free.

FSHS broke nine school records during the two-day event, and Brunfeldt set a league mark in the 500 free.

“It was very exciting to see Chris Sellon come out and win the 200 IM,” FSHS coach Annette McDonald said. “That’s what really started them rolling.”

The Lions dominated the diving in the same fashion, finishing 1-2. Junior John Gatti edged sophomore Nick Leet for the league crown and established a school record.

Gatti, the defending champ, trailed Leet heading into the final dive, but nailed an inward, one-and-a-half with a somersault to clip Leet, 464.45 points to 448.10.

Lawrence High's David Abreu surfaces on his way to a ninth-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. The Lions placed ninth in the team race of the Sunflower League meet Saturday at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

“I always finish with that dive,” Gatti said. “It’s an easy dive that I’m consistent with, so I don’t have to worry about anything going wrong with it.”

Shawnee Mission North’s Ryan Meeker was a distant third, putting the Lions in a class by themselves. Of course, both divers knew that beforehand, so most of the focus was on beating each other.

“Nick’s the younger one, so I think there’s kind of a ‘big-brother’ relationship going on there, where they want to beat each other,” LHS coach Alicia Jackson said. “I think it really helps them push each other.”

Jackson was equally pleased with her swimmers.

Junior David Abreu was ninth in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 backstroke, and the LHS relay teams were eighth in the 400 free and 200 medley.

“I’m extremely pleased with the way they rose to the occasion,” Jackson said. “For this meet, most of them really did a good job and lowered their times.”

Saturday was the last varsity meet until state Feb. 21 in Manhattan. Swimmers who haven’t qualified get one more shot at state at the league junior varsity meet Tuesday at Olathe South.

Free State High's Alex Brunfeldt swims in the 200 freestyle at the Sunflower League boys meet. Brunfeldt placed second in the event Saturday at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

Apart from that, it’ll be two weeks of swimming and preparation for state.

“I think it’s good,” McDonald said. “You get to come back and build some base, work on some speed and then rest. If we didn’t have it, you’d have to completely rest after the meet instead of putting in that extra work.”

McDonald had to put in a little extra work Saturday.

The coach of each event’s winner hands out medals to the top six placers, so about every 10 minutes McDonald had to hike to the medals stand.

“It caught me off guard a couple of times,” McDonald said. “They were telling me to go over and hand out medals, and I was getting ready to time the next race.

“But I’ll take that anytime. It was fun getting to congratulate the guys.”