Lions’ medley relay rockets to state title; FSHS swimming takes 3rd

Lawrence High freshman Marian Frick comes up for a breath in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Class 6A state swim and dive meet on Saturday at Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka. Frick placed second with a time of 1:07.09.

? As soon as Lawrence High freshman swimmer Megan Drumm touched the wall Saturday, her teammates in the 200 medley relay smiled and slapped hands.

It was a subdued reaction after winning a Class 6A state championship in the event at Capitol Federal Natatorium, but the relay swimmers — Drumm, Maddie Dean, Marian Frick and Emily Guo — had confidence in themselves to complete their goal.

The 200 medley relay lowered their school-record time (1:50.31) and earned the school’s first state title in five years. The Lions placed fourth in the team standings, matching their best finish since 1999.

Free State’s girls swimming and diving team placed third in the team standings, 33 points ahead of Lawrence. Wichita East edged Shawnee Mission East for the team title.

“We just enjoyed that relay,” Guo said. “It was fun for us to race.”

Frick, a freshman, took second in the 100 breaststroke. Guo was fourth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 200 individual medley, though she was “kind of disappointed” with her times.

The group of medley relay swimmers, all underclassmen, started to realize their potential when they took first at the Sunflower League meet earlier this month, breaking their school record for the first time.

“Each time we swim it, we keep going faster,” Frick said. “We’re really excited for the next couple of years.”

Lawrence sophomore Morgan Jones was third in the 500 freestyle and fourth in the 200 freestyle, along with contributing to a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay with Jamie Abernathy, Drumm and Guo.

When LHS coach Kent McDonald scored out the meet earlier this week, he saw the Lions were likely to land in fourth place with a gap between the top-three teams, “Realistically, as good as we could do.”

With a strong showing at state, McDonald was named the state’s Coach of the Year.

“I like it because it’s a reflection on how well the girls did this year for us,” McDonald said. “We’re not usually at the top, sometimes we’ve been near the bottom, but they are making a move now and we’ve got a lot of potential.”

Free State’s girls swimming team picked up a pair of third-place finishes from junior Claire Campbell in the 100 and 200 freestyles.

“I swam as fast as I could, I just didn’t get the results I wanted,” Campbell said. “That’s OK. It happens…. I’m really proud of us for coming together and getting third. That’s still really good getting third out of the whole state.”

Junior Ava Cormaney was fifth in the 100 breaststroke, while freshman Ainsley Krug took fifth in the 100 backstroke and seventh in the 500 freestyle.

Krug posted strong times in Friday’s prelims and credited her teammates for preparing her for the state meet, though swimming on the second day of the meet was “a lot harder” than expected.

“You’re tired, but you want to do it for your team,” Krug said, “so it’s definitely easier than it would be without your team.”

Freshman Kasey Dunn placed sixth in the 100 butterfly and junior Janet Stefanov placed sixth in the 100 backstroke.

“They were really positive once we looked at results yesterday,” FSHS coach Annette McDonald said. “We knew where we stood and they still gave it their all, some of their best times. I’m really excited about the results and we’re happy to bring home a trophy.”

Class 6A girls state swimming and diving championships

Saturday at Capitol Federal Natatorium

Team scores: Wichita East 296, Shawnee Mission East 282, Free State 236, Lawrence 203, Blue Valley Northwest 147, Olathe Northwest 130, Blue Valley North 130, Olathe East 105, Blue Valley West 100, Hutchinson 95, Blue Valley 72, Washburn Rural 69, Olathe North 66, Shawnee Mission South 64, Derby 53, Shawnee Mission Northwest 49, Wichita West 34, Shawnee Mission North 34, Olathe South 32, Shawnee Mission West 29, Topeka 29, Manhattan 27, Wichita Northwest 19, Wichita Southeast 13.

Champion, city results

200 medley relay — 1. Maddie Dean, Marian Frick, Emily Guo, Megan Drumm, L, 1:50.31; 3. Janet Stefanov, Ava Cormaney, Kasey Dunn, Piper Rogers, FS, 1:52.02.

200 freestyle — 1. Astrid Dirkzwager, Wichita East, 1:50.40; 3. Claire Campbell, FS, 1:51.77; 4. Morgan Jones, L, 1:55.04.

200 individual medley — 1. Anika Lam, Olathe North, 2:05.00; 5. Emily Guo, L, 2:10.01; 12. Ava Cormaney, FS, 2:15.19; 15. Lydia Zicker, FS, 2:18.02; 16. Maddie Dean, L, 2:18.14.

50 freestyle — 1. Megan Keil, Derby, 22.91; 14. Marian Frick, L, 25.57; 15. Gracie Caldwell, FS, 25.61.

One-meter diving — 1. Morgan Hoffman, Blue Valley, 406.00; 9. Eden Kingery, L, 334.65; 24. Grace Mayhew, FS, 146.05.

100 butterfly — 1. Hailey Brull, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 56.39; 4. Emily Guo, L, 1:00.37; 6. Kasey Dunn, FS, 1:01.35; 10. Gracie Caldwell, FS, 1:01.68; 11. Piper Rogers, FS, 1:02.05.

100 freestyle — 1. Megan Keil, Derby, 51.00; 3. Claire Campbell, FS, 51.54; 13. Janet Stefanov, FS, 56.26; Jamie Abernathy, L, 56.65.

500 freestyle — 1. Crissie Blomquist, Shawnee Mission East, 4:56.87; 3. Morgan Jones, L, 5:06.27; 7. Ainsley Krug, FS, 5:13.36; 12. Charlotte Crandall, FS, 5:24.74; 13. Kasey Dunn, FS, 5:30.06.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Shawnee Mission East, 1:38.01; 3. Gracie Caldwell, Charlotte Crandall, Piper Rogers, Claire Campbell, FS, 1:41.83; 6. Marian Frick, Jamie Abernathy, Megan Drumm, Morgan Jones, L, 1:43.24.

100 backstroke — 1. Astrid Dirkzwager, Wichita East, 55.33; 5. Ainsley Krug, FS, 59.38; 6. Janet Stefanov, FS, 1:00.16; 9. Maddie Dean, L, 1:00.50.

100 breaststroke — 1. Elena Almoguera, Topeka, 1:06.86; 2. Marian Frick, L, 1:07.09; 5. Ava Cormaney, FS, 1:08.53; 10. Lydia Zicker, FS, 1:10.94; 13. Payton Gunderson, L, 1:11.42; 14. Mary Reed-Weston, L, 11:45.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Wichita East, 3:32.11. 3. Ainsley Krug, Kasey Dunn, Ava Cormaney, Claire Campbell, FS, 3:37.80; 4. Morgan Jones, Jamie Abernathy, Megan Drumm, Emily Guo, L, 3:41.25.

All-State

First team

Megan Keil, Derby; Astrid Dirkzwager, Wichita East; Crissie Blomquist, SM East, Maci McCullough, Wichita West; Anika Lam, Olathe North; Joely Merriman, SM North; Katerina Savvides, Wichita East; Claire Campbell, Free State; Emma Linscott, SM East; Madison Allen, Wichita East; Morgan Jones, Lawrence; Emma Willmer, Olathe Northwest; Elena Almoguera, Topeka. Diver: Morgan Hoffman, Blue Valley.

Second team

Rachel Lyle, BV Northwest; Emily Guo, Lawrence; Cayla Prophater, BV North; Gracey Hiebert, Olathe Northwest; Mackenzie Bravence, Olathe East; Ainsley Krug, Free State; Izzy Smith, SM East; Kristen Wolf, Washburn Rural; Hannah McPhail, SM East; Aiden Chan, Wichita East; Alyssa Davis, Blue Valley West; Kennedy Young, Hutchinson. Diver: Abby Loudenback, Blue Valley.

Athlete of the Meet: Megan Keil, Derby.

Coach of the Year: Kent McDonald, Lawrence.