Olathe ? The Sunflower League girls swimming and diving meet was a fight for second place — Shawnee Mission East made sure of that.

The Lancers, who qualified a league-high 15 swimmers for Saturday’s finals at Prairie Trail Junior High, pulverized the competition by putting up 292.5 points, besting the second place squad, Olathe East, by 83.5 points.

Free State High looked like one of the teams that would vie for the second-place finish. The Firebirds ended up fourth, though, with 160.5 points, followed by Lawrence High with 109.5 points.

“We moved up a couple of places, so I thought we were sitting pretty for third,” Free State coach Jama Crady said, “but that’s what happens on the second day — no guarantees.”

Free State’s bid for third was washed away by a late surge from Shawnee Mission West, who scored 176.5 points. It’s hard to say where the Firebirds would have finished if the school’s prom wasn’t the same day.

“Our mindset was at the prom, not at the swim meet,” said Crady, who said several seniors requested to leave early to make hair appointments. “But that’s OK. That’s what happens.”

LHS coach Ryan Adams wanted all of his swimmers to finish at least one spot higher than their qualifying times or stay at the same positions. They did.

“We didn’t move down at all, all day. Our relays stayed the same,” Adams said. “Everyone who was in the (championship) finals moved up, which is pretty unheard of.”

One of those on the move was junior Kristi Rudman. After qualifying fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke, Rudman won two third-place medals prompting a chorus of cheers from LHS fans.

“I was hoping to go real fast,” Rudman said, “but I went way over what my expectations were.”

Free State junior standout Ashley Robinson had no exact expectations, but it’s a good bet almost everyone sitting in the sauna-like Prairie Trail expected her to win the 100-yard butterfly and the 500-freestyle races. She did just that, winning both races comfortably.

Robinson’s best performance of the day, though, came under the most uncomfortable of circumstances. After winning the 500 free Robinson went to change into a body suit for the 200-yard relay, but she only had a couple of minutes before her team lined up for the race. A teammate yelled out “Robbie!” and within moments the usual calm and collected Robinson was darting down the hallway and into the pool. She clocked in her best leg all season, but Free State finished second to Shawnee Mission East.

“I think my adrenaline was really high, because I was nervous about it,” Robinson said of the relay.

The LHS swimmers owe a large part of their fifth-place finish to their school’s diving tandem of sisters Mallory and Meredith West.

Meredith finished second in the competition while Mallory wound up second with a score of 424.3, a mark high enough to set a new school record.

“Today, I hit some new dives, so hopefully I’ll be able to perfect those at state,” Mallory West said.

The state meet is May 20-21 at the Hummer Sports Complex Natatorium in Topeka.