Lawrence High backstroke swimmer Braden Augustine, watches teammate and breast stroke swimmer Reed Pfeiffer dive into the pool while competing in the second heat of the Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay during the Lawrence Invitational, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017 at Lawrence High School.

Moments before the final event Thursday, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Lawrence High coach Kent McDonald got the attention of junior Alex Heckman and had a simple message for him.

“Hey, 10 points,” McDonald said.

The Lawrence High boys swimming team responded by overtaking McPherson and placing first at the eight-team Lawrence Invitational on Senior Night. It’s the first time the Lions have won a meet this season.

“We had some really good swims,” McDonald said. “A lot of people swam best times and guys come through when we needed them to.”

When the Lions needed them most, the relay team of Heckman, senior Patrick Oblon, senior Jakob Busch, and junior Stephen Johnson took first place in what McDonald called the “best performance” of the day. Their time of 3:29.67 was their best of the season by three seconds.

That put the Lions in position to win, and a fifth- and eighth- place finish by two other LHS teams in the same relay sealed the victory.

“When everybody pulls everything together, and everyone goes fast its always fun,” Johnson said. “As a team that doesn’t win all the time, having at least one victory is awesome.”

Johnson led the way for the Lions with victories in both the 200 and 500-meter freestyle. His win in the 200 was routine, but things were much more difficult in the 500-meter race.

Shawnee Heights sophomore Josh Florence finished with a time of 4:56.62, but Johnson was able to hold him off with a time of 4:56.47. Johnson has trained with and raced against Florence, so he knew the race would be close.

“I knew he was going to have an all out sprint and I was ready for it,” Johnson said. “When we race in that race I usually end up pulling out the final sprint.”

However, even after Johnson’s wins — as well as Heckman’s wins in both the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle — McDonald still wasn’t sure his team had enough in the tank to come back.

“I didn’t think we would do it,” McDonald said. “But they only had one relay and we had three and scored two, so it was our numbers over their quality really.”

Lawrence will travel to Topeka at 4 p.m. Tuesday, its final meet before the start of the Sunflower League.

“We’re going to keep working hard until we get those meets and hope it all pays off,” McDonald said.