Manhattan ? Free State High senior Anthony Portela probably would have had a big smile Saturday if he could have seen Firebird coach Annette McDonald waving her arms wildly and screaming at him from the sidelines of the pool inside Ahearn Natatorium.

Instead, Portela was taking care of business during the last leg of the last event of the state swimming and diving meet at Kansas State University.

Good thing, too. Had Portela looked over at McDonald, perhaps the Olathe East swimmer beside him might have slipped past him, and it would have been the Hawks, not the Firebirds, taking home a team trophy.

“I couldn’t hear or see anything. All I knew is that I had to beat them if we wanted third place overall,” said Portela, who helped Free State achieve the feat when he touched the wall fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:23.68, almost two seconds faster than O-East, which finished fifth.

The Firebirds’ heroic effort in the relay was good enough to give Free State third place in the final team standings with 190 points, while O-East fell to fourth with 178.

“What an exciting ending,” said a smiling McDonald. “I’m just so proud of what these guys did.”

Realistically, the Firebirds knew before the weekend started that they stood little chance of defending their state championship. The graduation of key components to last year’s Firebird squad, coupled with the strength of Shawnee Mission East — which held off Blue Valley Northwest by 22 points for the team title Saturday — pretty much made it clear that the best Free State could shoot for was third.

“We knew that we would have to have an absolutely perfect meet, and everyone else would have to make multiple mistakes, if we were going to win it all,” said FSHS senior Chris Sellon, who, along with Portela, and Nathan Schriner, swam in their final prep event.

“Still, for us to set the goal of a team trophy and then go out there and have to swim our hearts out to get it, that says a lot about this team,” continued Sellon, who finished fourth in the 500 freestyle in 4:57.82 and fourth in the 200 individual medley in 2:00.54

Free State's Anthony Portela comes up for air in the 200 medley relay. Portela and his FSHS teammates won the race Saturday at Kansas State.

The day started with a bang for Free State when the Firebirds’ 200 medley relay team — Chase Torgerson, Schriner, Portela, and Sellon — defended their state title by winning the race in 1:40.82.

Then it was Portela’s turn. He took top honors in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.

“It feels really special to win those two individual medals,” said Portela, who won the 100 fly in 51.57 and claimed his second straight 200 IM title in 1:57.28.

“But I’m really proud of how we ended things for our team,” continued Portela, who ended his career with six gold medals. “We definitely felt some pressure to take home a trophy, and it got close there at the end. But luckily we pulled out that final relay and finished with an awesome ending.”

McDonald was almost speechless when trying to describe the two-year run that her squad put together.

Free State High's 200 medley relay team, from left, Chris Sellon, Anthony Portela, Chase Torgerson and Nathan Schriner, await the race. The Firebirds won the state championship in the event with a time of 1:40.82 Saturday in Manhattan.

Torgerson finished third in the 100 backstroke in 56.62; Schriner was seventh in the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.33.

“It’s so very, very special,” McDonald said.

Saturday was also a success for Lawrence High diver Nick Leet. The senior wrapped up his career with his third straight fourth-place showing in the diving competition.

Blue Valley Northwest’s Kelly Marx broke the state record he set last year when he won the event with 557.20 points. Leet scored 454.80, while his good friends and training partners, SM North’s Ryan Meeker and SM West’s Cole Young, went 3-4.

Photo Gallery: State swimming and diving meet

“I know Nick’s pretty happy about that,” said LHS coach Ryan Adams. “He really nailed a couple of dives and had a good day on the board today.”

The Lions finished 23rd overall, a spot better than last season.

“Every single one of our swimmers came out today and bettered the times they put up on Friday,” said Adams, who had two swimmers finish 12th: senior Zach Colwell in the 100 fly in 57.07, and freshman Alex Boyer in the 500 freestyle in 5:13.16. “Overall, we did a pretty good job, and I think that kind of excitement can only help to motivate the ones coming back next year.”