Free State swimmer Kendall Harris, left, accepts congratulations from coach Annette McDonald after winning the 50-yard freestyle during Free State's home meet. Harris also was part of the Firebirds' 200-yard medley relay team Thursday at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

Lawrence High's Alex Boyer competes in the 200-yard individual medley. Boyer won the event and tied for first in the 100-yard freestyle with Free State's Mitch Moore on Thursday at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

Since when is a tie exciting?

Not that often in most sports, but in swimming it certainly can be.

Neither Lawrence High nor Free State won the boys swim meet Thursday afternoon at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center – Shawnee Mission South made sure of that by winning the event – but the Firebirds and Lions, who took second and third, respectively, at the five-team meet shared in the most entertaining moment of the afternoon.

As the 100-yard freestyle race neared its end, it looked as if FSHS senior Mitch Moore, swimming in lane four, was about to win the heat by beating LHS senior Alex Boyer, swimming in lane five. But as the two pushed toward the finish, Boyer, who is a teammate of Moore’s on the Aquahawks club team, gave one last surge and caught his rival from behind.

After reaching the finish, the two looked at the clock in astonishment as they realized they had both finished the race with the exact same time of 50.41 seconds to tie for first – a real rarity in high school swimming.

“To be a part of one, that’s just nuts,” Moore, a FSHS captain said. “And for us to be crosstown rivals, that’s even crazier. You don’t get races like that every day.”

Boyer said he thought he was beat as he saw Moore out of the corner of his eye on the last lap.

“I knew he was ahead of me, and about halfway (down the final stretch) I stopped breathing. I just took a big breath and just gunned it as fast as I could toward the wall. It turned out to be an amazing race and it was a lot of fun to be in,” Boyer said, adding that he was excited to see his time when he came out of the water. “Then I glanced over and I saw Mitch celebrating, too.”

The club teammates, Moore said, aren’t usually rivals, but when they don those LHS and FSHS swim caps they certainly are.

“It was kind of a grudge match,” Lions coach Kent McDonald said. “They both have trained together a lot and they both wanted to win.”

Boyer said it always has been and always will be a rivalry when the Lions and Firebirds meet, even though he is friends with Moore because of their club ties.

“It just adds another level to it, not seeing him for a week before this, coming in with him in the lane next to me with the other team’s cap on – it’s a completely different feeling than it would be at an Aquahawks meet,” Boyer said. “Usually at an Aquahawks meet, you’re like, ‘Good job. Congratulations, you’re helping my team.’ But in this one, you’re like, ‘Congratulations … I wish I would’ve beaten you.'”

The tie wasn’t the only highlight for either swimmer. Boyer also won the 200 yard individual medley. Moore won the 200-yard medley relay with FSHS teammates freshman Nolan Frank, junior Eric Gruber and senior Kendall Harris, and won as an individual in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Harris, who won the 50-yard freestyle, and Frank, who finished first in the 100-yard backstroke, also found individual success for the Firebirds.

However, FSHS coach Annette McDonald praised all of her swimmers for leading the team to a second-place finish, citing the Firebirds’ performance in the 100-yard breaststroke when Moore, Gruber and Tony Libeer took the top three spots.

“Everybody counts on the team,” she said, while not downplaying the importance of winning some events. “But it’s all the other guys who swam back there who brought in the rest of those points.”

While LHS didn’t win as many events as its rival, the Lions showed well. Senior Dylan Hedges finished second in the 200 freestyle. TK Pracht, Matthias Reiber and Charlie Thiel took third through fifth in one-meter diving.