photo by: Nick Krug

Free State swimmer Sydney Sirimongkhon-Dyck competes during the 100 Yard Freestyle event of the 6A Swimming and Diving State Championships at Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka. Sirimongkhon-Dyck took first in the 50 Yard Freestyle and third in the 100 Yard Freestyle.

Topeka ? Throughout the Class 6A girls state swimming championships Saturday, Free State High senior Sydney Sirimongkhon-Dyck kept trying to remind herself to soak in the sights and sounds of the final meet of her career.

“OK, Sydney remember this moment when you’re done,” she thought to herself after repeating as state champion in the 50-yard freestyle at Capitol Federal Natatorium.

Sirimongkhon-Dyck was the first one off of the blocks — shooting out like a missile — and breezed to a dominant victory in a personal-best 23.65 seconds. She won by nearly a second, which is about a mile by 50 free standards.

“I’m so happy because this is my last meet ever,” Sirimongkhon-Dyck said. “I’m glad I got to do it with my team and just end it off right.”

Sirimongkhon-Dyck’s victory helped the Firebirds to second place in the team standings with 289 points, 97 points behind champion Shawnee Mission East. It’s the fourth straight year the Firebirds have finished in the top two at state after winning a state title last season.

Lawrence High’s girls swimming and diving team took fifth place with 163 points, the school’s best finish at state since placing fourth in 1999.

Sirimongkhon-Dyck, who finished third in the 100 free, had a goal all season to break 24 seconds in the 50 free. She did it at the Sunflower League meet two weeks ago and topped it Saturday.

She showed off that same speed in the final leg of the 200 medley relay, nearly catching SM East in a runner-up finish by 0.25 seconds.

“That was so fun to watch,” FSHS coach Annette McDonald said. “She changed her start. Every time, she’s the first one off the blocks and I think that speed really just took it out.”

Free State senior Cierra Campbell, signed to swim at Indiana State, finished runner-up in the 500 free and was third in the 200 free.

Sirimongkhon-Dyck and Campbell, along with Simone Herlihy and Piper Rogers, helped the Firebirds finish second in the 200 free relay.

“I feel like I could’ve gone faster,” Campbell said. “I’m proud of everyone else. Them swimming fast makes me happy.”

Last year, Rogers missed qualifying for the championship heat of the 100 fly by 0.05 seconds. She made up for lost time, finishing sixth in the 100 fly and fifth in the 50 free, back-to-back events sandwiched around a short break.

“I was really proud how I was able to hold it together, even though I had just come off another race,” Rogers said. “I was very happy about that and in the relay, I actually had a faster split than what I swam in prelims (Friday). I was very happy with my times.”

Cormaney added a fourth-place finish in the 100 breast and took sixth in the 500 free. In the final event of the meet, Cormaney combined with Campbell, Herlihy and Janet Stefanov for third place in the 400 free relay.

Senior Anna McCurdy, who will swim at the University of Maine, was sixth in the 200 individual medley and eighth in the 500 free.

“It’s really hard to come back and be stronger the second day, and we did on most of our events,” McDonald said. “I’m really pleased with the girls.”

The Lions were led by freshman Emily Guo, who placed third in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. Freshman Morgan Jones followed by taking third in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle.

Jones dropped a lot of time at the league meet and continued to drop time at state.

“It was really surprising. I just felt good,” Jones said. “I guess I was just really pumped for this meet. A lot of people cheering and stuff. It was just really exciting.”

The Lions were fifth in the 200 medley relay — freshmen Guo, Maddie Dean and Jamie Abernathy, and junior Mary Reed-Weston — and were fifth in the 400 free relay, replacing Abernathy with Jones.

With mostly freshmen, the Lions had their best performance at state in 17 years.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” LHS coach Kent McDonald said. “Maybe they didn’t know enough to get nervous about it. We lost all of our scorers (from last year) but one, so this is really good.”

At Capitol Federal Natatorium

CLASS 6A

Finals

Team scores

Shawnee Mission East 386, Free State 289, Olathe Northwest 260, Wichita East 189, Lawrence 163, Olathe East 144, Blue Valley North 130, Shawnee Mission Northwest 125, Hutchinson 118, Blue Valley West 82, Blue Valley 78, Shawnee Mission West 70, Shawnee Mission North 63, Washburn Rural 61, Blue Valley Northwest 43, Shawnee Mission South 39, Topeka High 17, Campus 13, Derby 13, Garden City 10, Wichita Northwest 10, Olathe South 8, Junction City 4, Dodge City 2.

Individual results

200 medley relay

Championship finals — 1. Shawnee Mission East (Sarah Allegri, Mary Booton, Bonnie Longan, Hannah McPhail), 1:49.21; 2. Free State (Janet Stefanov, Ava Cormaney, Piper Rogers, Sydney Sirimongkhon-Dyck), 1:49.46; 3. Wichita East (Katerina Savvides, Aiden Chan, Janis Hwang, Madison Allen), 1:49.47; 4. Olathe Northwest (Hannah Pugh, Taylor Badowski, London Durr, Brooke Bogdan), 1:52.74; 5. Lawrence (Maddie Dean, Mary Reed-Weston, Emily Guo, Jamie Abernathy), 1:53.61; 6. SM Northwest (Piper Schuerman, Hailey Brull, Meaghan Bower, Elina Rauvala), 1:53.95; 7. Olathe East (Mackenzie Bravence, Selina Liu, Delaney Green, Ellie Hicks), 1:54.22; 8. Hutchinson (Tori Lehr, Toni Lehr, Kennedy Young, Emily Hendricks), 1:55.17.

Consolation finals — 9. SM West (Erin Fast, Caroline Wilkus, Hannah Heaton, Addison Benson), 1:56.16; 10. Blue Valley North (Olivia Vance, Elizabeth Hendrickson, Kathleen Adriano, Alison Kruse), 1:57.06; 11. Blue Valley (Kate Meinzenbach, Brettell Urczyk, Grace Euler, Meredith Halliburton), 1:59.41; 12. (tie) Washburn Rural (Lindsay Carey, Kristen Wolf, Libby Pope, Emma Hirschi) and Blue Valley West (Jolie Barnhart, Cate McGrath, Natalie Xu, Delaney Bredehoeft), 1:59.56; 14. SM South (Taylor Laws, Crimson Barker, Amelia du Bois, Sophia Vogt), 2:00.04; 15. Blue Valley Northwest (Kadisyn Kircher, Hannah Thurlby, Ashlyn Cassity, Claire Albright), 2:00.79; 16. Olathe South (Addy Bray, Sarah Buehler, Annika Highstrom, Anne Augustyn), 2:02.31.

200 freestyle

Championship finals — 1. Crissie Blomquist, SM East, 1:50.83; 2. Joely Merriman, SM North, 1:53.07; 3. Cierra Campbell, Free State, 1:53.31; 4. Izzy Smith, SM East, 1:57.50; 5. Gracey Hiebert, Olathe Northwest, 1:57.59; 6. Morgan Jones, Lawrence, 1:57.86; 7. Bravence, Olathe East, 1:59.17; 8. Young, Hutchinson, 2:01.28.

Consolation finals — 9. Sophia Smith, Olathe East, 2:00.23; 10. Kircher, BV Northwest, 2:01.57; 11. Lonna Porter, Hutchinson, 2:02.64; 12. Katie Gildemeister, BV West, 2:03.22; 13. Cayanne Knoth, Campus, 2:04.65; 14. Stefanov, Free State, 2:05.43; 15. Hannah Balch, Wichita East, 2:06.65; 16. Chloe Stanford, SM East, 2:07.98.

200 individual medley

Championship finals — 1. Savvides, Wichita East, 2:07.23; 2. Brull, SM Northwest, 2:07.92; 3. Guo, Lawrence, 2:11.49; 4. Linscott, SM East, 2:12.04; 5. Bower, SM Northwest, 2:12.43; 6. Anna McCurdy, Free State, 2:15.80; 7. Badowski, Olathe Northwest, 2:17.36; 8. Adriano, BV North, 2:19.19.

Consolation finals — 9. Chan, Wichita East, 2:14.54; 10. Dean, Lawrence, 2:14.84; 11. Wolf, Washburn Rural, 2:16.00; 12. Fast, SM West, 2:17.48; 13. McGrath, BV West, 2:17.90; 14. Almoguera, Topeka High, 2:19.88; 15. Lydia Zicker, Free State, 2:21.10; 16. Booton, SM East, 2:22.08.

50 freestyle

Championship finals — 1. Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Free State, 23.65; 2. Allen, Wichita East, 24.60; 3. Brenna Gaul, Olathe Northwest, 24.70; 4. Pugh, Olathe Northwest, 24.90; 5. Rogers, Free State, 25.18; 6. McPhail, SM East, 25.21; 7. Olivia Vance, BV North, 25.54; 8. Trinity Legill, SM East, 25.74.

Consolation finals — 9. Alyssa Davis, BV West, 25.08; 10. Hendrickson, BV North, 25.65; 11. Claire Nash, SM South, 25.68; 12. Bogdan, Olathe Northwest, 25.75; 13. Carey, Washburn Rural, 25.76; 14. Rauvala, SM Northwest, 25.95; 15. Halliburton, Blue Valley, 26.10; 16. Augustyn, Olathe South, 26.12.

Diving

Championship finals — 1. Morgan Hoffman, Blue Valley, 401.55; 2. Emily Bridges, Blue Valley, 390.25; 3. Annie Turner, BV North, 390.00; 4. Jessie Payne, Olathe Northwest, 386.05; 5. Maddie Fentiman, Olathe Northwest, 380.50; 6. Lauryn Allen, Derby, 349.45; 7. Madi Vanderpool, SM West, 346.70; 8. Maggie Taylor, BV Northwest, 341.25; 9. Emily Copeland, Olathe Northwest, 340.20; 10. Abby Loudenback, Blue Valley, 335.05; 11. Ashley Ammann, Lawrence, 331.60; 12. Cinnamon Derrick, Olathe South, 328.75; 13. Eden Kingery, Lawrence, 315.10; 14. Emily Tran, BV Northwest, 314.90; 15. Kelsey Moore, Olathe East, 314.60; 16. Lauren Terry, SM East, 287.10.

100 butterfly

Championship finals — 1. Brull, SM Northwest, 56.85; 2. Linscott, SM East, 58.01; 3. Longan SM East, 58.90; 4. Bower, SM Northwest, 59.67; 5. Pugh, Olathe Northwest, 1:00.54; 6. Rogers, Free State, 1:00.59; 7. Vahle, SM East, 1:02.38; 8. Green, Olathe East, 1:02.44.

Consolation finals — 9. Albright, BV Northwest, 1:01.68; 10. Euler, Blue Valley, 1:02.28; 11. Grace Apodaca, SM East, 1:02.40; 12. Hwang, Wichita East, 1:02.79; 13. Durr, Olathe Northwest, 1:02.82; 14. Zicker, Free State, 1:03.17; 15. Siemiller, Wichita Northwest, 1:04.37; 16. Xu, BV West, 1:05.09.

100 freestyle

Championship finals — 1. Merriman, SM North, 52.32; 2. Allegri, SM East, 53.06; 3. Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Free State, 53.19; 4. Allen, Wichita East, 53.83; 5. Gaul, Olathe Northwest, 54.06; 6. Davis, BV West, 54.70; 7. McPhail, SM East, 55.05; 8. Vance, BV North, 55.75.

Consolation finals — 9. Hendrickson, BV North, 56.06; 10. Nash, SM South, 56.23; 11. Carey, Washburn Rural, 56.33; 12. Herlihy, Free State, 56.51; 13. Gildemeister, BV West, 56.59; 14. Lana Reaves, SM East, 57.38; 15. Liu, Olathe East, 57.40; 16. Stanford, SM East, 57.42.

500 freestyle

Championship finals — 1. Blomquist, SM East, 4:56.27; 2. Campbell, Free State, 5:07.12; 3. Jones, Lawrence, 5:12.44; 4. Hiebert, Olathe Northwest, 5:15.93; 5. Smith, SM East, 5:16.70; 6. Cormaney, Free State, 5:21.74; 7. Smith, Olathe East, 5:23.72; 8. McCurdy, Free State, 5:31.75.

Consolation finals — 9. Charlotte Crandall, Free State, 5:26.88; 10. Vandeventer, Wichita East, 5:27.65; 11. Hannah Wastler, BV West, 5:29.47; 12. Caitlin Fitzpatrick, Blue Valley, 5:32.44; 13. Porter, Hutchinson, 5:35.14; 14. Balch, Wichita East, 5:35.48; 15. Adelaide Gunderson, BV North, 5:39.73; 16. McClelland, SM East, 5:43.44.

200 freestyle relay

Championship finals — 1. SM East (Allegri, McPhail, Linscott, Blomquist), 1:37.85; 2. Free State (Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Herlihy, Rogers, Campbell), 1:38.97; 3. Olathe Northwest (Pugh, Durr, Hiebert, Gaul), 1:40.45; 4. SM Northwest (Bower, Rauvala, Paige Eichkorn, Brull), 1:42.34; 5. BV West (Gildemeister, McGrath, Xu, Davis), 1:42.80; 6. BV North (Hendrickson, Wilson, Kruse, Vance), 1:43.11; 7. Hutchinson (Lehr, Lehr, Hendricks, Porter), 1:44.53; 8. Olathe East (Green, Liu, Mackenzie Bohn, Smith), 1:44.98.

Consolation finals — 9. SM North (Natalia Lienerova, Tessa Poterbin, Caitlyn Howard, Merriman), 1:44.92; 10. Wichita East (Chan, Whitfield, Hwang, Balch), 1:45.01; 11. Lawrence (Abernathy, Chandler Sells, Brooke Wroten, Jones), 1:46.25; 12. Washburn Rural (Pope, Haley Unruh, Emily Miller, Carey), 1:46.38; 13. Blue Valley (Euler, Megan Boushka, Halliburton, Fitzpatrick), 1:47.27; 14. SM South (Vogt, du Bois, Carolyn Shonkwiler, Nash), 1:47.46; 15. Campus (Kadee Schutt, Kaity Cooper, Aubrey Kennedy, Cayanne Knoth), 1:48.63; 16. Wichita Northwest (Madison Johnson, Katie Darnell, Emily Brown, McKayla Siemiller), 1:49.25.

100 backstroke

Championship finals — 1. Allegri, SM East, 55.65; 2. Savvides, Wichita East, 56.23; 3. Longan, SM East, 58.92; 4. Bravence, Olathe East, 59.06; 5. Legill, SM East, 1:00.38; 6. Young, Hutchinson, 1:00.86; 7. Stefanov, Free State, 1:00.94; 8. Badowski, Olathe Northwest, 1:01.31.

Consolation finals — 9. Kircher, BV Northwest, 1:01.38; 10. Fast, SM West, 1:01.83; 11. Pugh, Olathe Northwest, 1:01.86; 12. Dean, Lawrence, 1:02.76; 13. Addison Benson, SM West, 1:03.51; 14. Tori Lehr, Hutchinson, 1:03.84; 15. Valentina Rivera Rodriguez, Free State, 1:05.28; 16. Hwang, Wichita East, 1:05.62.

100 breaststroke

Championship finals — 1. Almoguera, Topeka High, 1:06.06; 2. Chan, Wichita East, 1:07.62; 3. Guo, Lawrence, 1:08.93; 4. Cormaney, Free State, 1:09.13; 5. Wolf, Washburn Rural, 1:0995; 6. Booton, SM East, 1:10.47; 7. Reed-Weston, Lawrence, 1:10.76; 8. Toni Lehr, Hutchinson, 1:11.13.

Consolation finals — 9. Liu, Olathe East, 1:11.69; 10. Grimm, SM East, 1:12.70; 11. Wilkus, SM West, 1:13.10; 12. Kara Krannawitter, Free State, 1:13.26; 13. Kyndel McCloy, Junction City, 1:13.29; 14. Bredehoft, BV West, 1:13.56; 15. Amelia Richter, Dodge City, 1:14.14; 16. Simpson, Campus, 1:15.00.

400 freestyle relay

Championship finals — 1. SM East (Blomquist, Longan, Linscott, Smith), 3:36.31; 2. Olathe Northwest (Pugh, Badowski, Hiebert, Gaul), 3:41.14; 3. Free State (Campbell, Herlihy, Stefanov, Cormaney), 3:41.61; 4. Wichita East (Allen, Savvides, Whitfield, Balch), 3:42.11; 5. Lawrence (Jones, Dean, Reed-Weston, Guo), 3:42.83; 6. Olathe East (Green, Bravence, Bohn, Smith), 3:44.29; 7. Hutchinson (Young, Tori Lehr, Hendricks, Porter), 3:51.37; 8. Blue Valley North (Adriano, Wilson, Kruse, Gunderson), 3:51.41.

Consolation finals — 9. SM West (Benson, Heaton, Colette Balas, Fast), 3:52.23; 10. SM South (Vogt, du Bois, Laws, Nash), 3:53.02; 11. Washburn Rural (Emily Prekopy, Miller, Unruh, Wolf), 3:55.75; 12. Garden City (Abigail Ginest-Dougherty, Kirstin Neff, Emma Tull, Grace Schmidt), 3:56.83; 13. SM North (B. Howard, Poterbin, Lienerova, Merriman), 3:58.23; 14. Wichita Northwest (Brown, Johnson, Jillian McKernan, Siemiller), 3:58.64; 15. Campus (Kennedy, Kirsten Nicholas, Olivia Sailors, Knoth), 4:08.55; DQ. Blue Valley (Campbell, Boushka, Boman, Fitzpatrick).

All-State

First team

Sarah Allegri, SM East; Madison Allen, Wichita East; Crissie Blomquist, SM East; Cierra Campbell, Free State; Hailey Brull, SM Northwest; Emily Guo, Lawrence; Morgan Hoffman, Blue Valley; Emma Linscott, SM East; Bonnie Longan, SM East; Joely Merriman, SM North; Katerina Savvides, Wichita West; Sydney Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Free State.

Second team

Meaghan Bower, SM Northwest; Mackenzie Bravence, Olathe East; Emily Bridges, Blue Valley; Aiden Chan, Wichita East; Ava Cormaney, Free State; Brenna Gaul, Olathe Northwest; Gracey Hiebert, Olathe Northwest; Morgan Jones, Lawrence; Trinity Legill, SM East; Hannah McPhail, SM East; Lauren Pugh, Olathe Northwest; Piper Rogers, Free State; Izzy Smith, SM East.

Athlete of the meet — Crissie Blomquist, SM East.

Coach of the year — Hank Krusen, Olathe Northwest.