Firebirds lower times, lose in dual against SME

Free State High School swimmer Charlotte Crandall, second from left, dives into the water at the start of the 100-yard butterfly during a Firebirds meet against Shawnee Mission East Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

Free State High’s girls swimming team couldn’t match Shawnee Mission East’s depth in a dual Tuesday at Indoor Aquatic Center, but that didn’t stop swimmers from recording their own highlights.

Junior Claire Campbell took first place in the 100-yard butterfly and 500 freestyle, leading the Firebirds in their 113-72 loss to the defending state champions. Ava Cormaney added a victory in the 100 breaststroke and Ainsley Krug won in the 100 backstroke.

Campbell had a goal of swimming below a minute in the 100 fly, and she blasted through the water in 59.34 seconds for the victory.

“I wasn’t necessarily expecting to go those times but it was fun racing and I had a good time,” Campbell said. “I think that led to me swimming so well.”

In addition to a fast time in the 100 fly, Campbell dropped four seconds throughout the month in the 500 freestyle — swimming a personal-best time in a high school meet (5:08.49). That’s before the opportunity to taper and gearing up for top times at the end of the season.

“I just keep my endurance up and keep working and pacing myself during practice,” Campbell said. “Just race really hard and have fun.”

Free State and Shawnee Mission East have won every Class 6A state title since 2008. So there’s plenty of competition in the smaller-than-usual meet.

Cormaney was second in the 200 individual medley, while the Firebirds picked up third-place finishes from Charlotte Crandall (50 freestyle), Grace Mayhew (diving), Janet Stefanov (100 freestyle, 100 backstroke), Kasey Dunn (500 freestyle) and Lydia Zicker (100 breaststroke).

“I’d say it helps a lot knowing where we are against them and then just having good, healthy competition between us is a good thing to have,” Cormaney said.

Along with the three event winners, the Firebirds were happy to see a strong showing the 50 freestyle, which hasn’t always been their top event. Crandall, Piper Rogers and Gracie Caldwell finished 3-4-5 in the event, all swimming below 27 seconds.

“I think it’s a lot of motivation,” Krug said of the lowered times. “I feel like we know that we can do it. It’s just how we put it together and how we come together as a team.”

Free State-Shawnee Mission East dual

Tuesday at Indoor Aquatic Center

Team scores: SM East 113, Free State 72.

FSHS results

200 medley relay — 2. Ainsley Krug, Ava Cormaney, Piper Rogers, Claire Campbell, 1:54.60; 3. Janet Stefanov, Lydia Zicker, Kasey Dunn, Gracie Caldwell, 1:59.77; 6. Anna Welton, Courtney Cruickshank, Nora Agah, Maddie Ross, 2:09.22; 8. Ruth Gathunguri, Maleena Hatfield, Sydney Williams, Margaret Uhler, 2:19.78.

200 freestyle — 4. Ainsley Krug, 2:02.40; 5. Kasey Dunn, 2:02.59; 10. Sydney Williams, 2:29.78.

200 individual medley — 2. Ava Cormaney, 2:17.50; 4. Lydia Zicker, 2:23.51; 7. Nora Agah, 2:39.25; 8. Richa Joshi, 2:40.62.

50 freestyle — 3. Charlott Crandall, 26.43; 4. Piper Rogers, 26.79; 5. Gracie Caldwell, 26.80; 7. Kara Krannawitter, 27.70; 11. Lexie Lockwood, 29.22; 13. Anna Harrits, 29.48; 19. Maggie Ziegler, 30.06; 24. Ruth Gathunguri, 30.62; 25. Caroline Kelton, 30.83; 28. Anastasia Bunting, 31.08; 29. Maddie Ross, 31.31; 30. Maleena Hatfield, 31.48; 31. Margaret Uhler, 31.57; 32. Tierney Thompson, 31.63; 33. Naomi Soderling, 31.67; 34. Rose Pilakowski, 31.71; 35. Taylor Thomas, 32.30; 36. Morgan Goeser, 32.33; 37. Hannah Malloy, 32.46; 38. Rowan Plinsky, 32.76; 39. Maddie Clark, 32.77; 40. Logan White, 32.98; 41. Danielle Morrison, 33.33; 42. Hannah Schenkel, 33.40; 43. Sidney Patrick, 34.20; 44. Julia Holder, 34.22; 45. Madeline Nachtigal, 34.87; 46. Sophie Schrader, 36.07; 47. Emma Harris, 40.38; 48. Molly Reed, 48.99.

One-meter diving — 3. Grace Mayhew, 185.15.

100 butterfly — 1. Claire Campbell, 59.34; 4. Piper Rogers, 1:03.23; 8. Nora Agah, 1:07.80.

100 freestyle — 3. Janet Stefanov, 57.93; 4. Charlott Crandall, 59.20; 11. Anna Welton, 1:05.82; 14. Lexie Lockwood, 1:07.42; 18. Maggie Ziegler, 1:08.39; 19. Ruth Gathunguri, 1:09.17; 20. Naomi Soderling, 1:09.40; 21. Tierney Thompson, 1:09.78; 22. Caroline Kelton, 1:10.84; 23. Margaret Uhler, 1:10.93; 24. Rowan Plinsky, 1:11.25; 25. Taylor Thomas, 1:12.30; 26. Logan White, 1:13.04; 27. Morgan Goeser, 1:13.33; 28. Hannah Schenkel, 1:14.63; 29. Maddie Clark, 1:15.21; 30. Sidney Patrick, 1:17.08; 31. Sophie Schrader, 1:17.39; 32. Julia Holder, 1:19.91; 33. Emma Harris, 1:30.94; 34. Molly Reed, 1:44.15.

500 freestyle — 1. Claire Campbell, 5:08.49; 3. Kasey Dunn, 5:24.97.

200 freestyle relay — 2. Charlotte Crandall, Gracie Caldwell, Piper Rogers, Ava Cormaney, 1:47.13; 5. Kara Krannawitter, Nora Agah, Hailei Detwiler, Lydia Zicker, 1:54.22; 7. Richa Joshi, Lexie Lockwood, Maggie Ziegler, Anastasia Bunting, 2:01.29; 8. Sydney Williams, Ruth Gathunguri, Anna Harrits, Maddie Ross, 2:03.96; 9. Tierney Thompson, Naomi Soderling, Hannah Malloy, Rowan Plinsky, 2:09.21; 10. Caroline Kelton, Maleena Hatfield, Madeline Nachtigal, Margaret Uhler, 2:09.47; 11. Rose Pilakowski, Taylor Thomas, Logan White, Danielle Morrison, 2:10.29.

100 backstroke — 1. Ainsley Krug, 1:01.35; 3. Janet Stefanov, 1:04.47; 7. Gracie Caldwell, 1:06.85; 8. Hailei Detwiler, 1:09.46; 10. Anna Harrits, 1:13.12; 11. Anna Welton, 1:13.64; 13. Hannah Malloy, 1:23.11.

100 breaststroke — 1. Ava Cormaney, 1:11.21; 3. Lydia Zicker, 1:15.41; 6. Kara Krannawitter, 1:16.63; 7. Courtney Cruickshank, 1:17.49; 11. Rose Pilakowski, 1:23.12; 13. Richa Joshi, 1:26.42; 14. Anastasia Bunting, 1:27.48; 15. Maleena Hatfield, 1:28.22; 16. Madeline Nachtigal, 1:33.33.

400 freestyle relay — 2. Ainsley Krug, Kasey Dunn, Janet Stefanov, Claire Campbell, 3:47.29; 5. Charlotte Crandall, Anna Welton, Hailei Detwiler, Kara Krannawitter, 4:15.62; 7. Lexie Lockwood, Maddie Ross, Tierney Thompson, Richa Joshi, 4:37.80; 8. Maggie Ziegler, Naomi Soderling, Logan White, Anastasia Bunting, 4:39.37.