Free State High’s girl’s swimming and diving team finished second without eight swimmers present at its home meet against Shawnee Mission East and Topeka Hayden on Thursday night.

That would seem to show the Firebirds’ strength, right?

Not according to FSHS coach Jama Crady.

“I really think it shows that we are not as strong as we thought we were,” said Crady, who swapped seven freshman for the experienced eight swimmers who missed the meet because of conflicts with either choir or music events.

“Obviously we have a few girls that our going to be at the top every time out. But our other swimmers are going to have to step up and fill their void. Today they had the opportunity to do just that, and we didn’t do as well as I thought we could.”

SM East won the meet at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center with 272 points. FSHS was second with 241, and Hayden was third with 120.

Free State’s Ashley Robinson and Katie Swank each won two individual events.

Robinson won the 200 freestyle in 1:56.19 and the 500 freestyle in 5:05.47.

Swank won the 50 and 100 freestyles, in 25.54 and 55.60.

The two also teamed up on the runner-up 200 medley relay team and the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team.

Firebird Lauren Pipkin, who won the 100 butterfly and was third in the 200 freestyle, said that while the lineup change was a concern, it could provide benefits later on.

“Obviously it made quite a difference,” Pipkin said. “But at the same time, it helped the freshman get some experience, and we know that if we’re going to reach our goals, the underclassmen will play a big part.”

Crady’s concern was that her team might rely too much on its talent at the top.

“I hope this motivates us a little bit,” she said. “For us to be the kind of team we want to be during the championship part of the season, we have to depend on more than just the Ashleys (Robinson and Jackson) and some of our other stars. Everyone is going to have to swim well, every time out.”