photo by: Chris Duderstadt

Lawrence High's Emily Guo swims to a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay on Tuesday at the Free State Invite at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

The Lawrence High and Free State girls swim and dive teams will be seeing a lot of each other for the remainder of the season, and the Lions and the Firebirds wouldn’t want it any other way.

The Lions edged the Firebirds by 11 points to win the Free State Invite on Tuesday at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center. The victory for the Lions comes four days after they clipped Free State for second place at the Olathe Invitational.

“As a team, we’re really excited because it’s been a few years since we’ve beat Free State. I’ve never been on a team that has beat Free State,” Lawrence’s Marian Frick said. “It’s just really exciting to do something that we’ve never done before.”

Lawrence was led by Emily Guo — who won the 200-yard medley (2:12.70) and 100-yard butterfly (59.76). The Lions emphasized that it took a team effort to finish atop the team standings, though. Lawrence won two of the three relays, and the Lions showed off their depth in them as well.

“Not just the ‘A’ relays, but also the ‘B’ relays help us get a lot of points,” Frick said. “So we really try to cheer both of them on.”

Frick and Guo were joined by Maddie Dean and Madi Heckman on the Lions’ first-place 200-medley relay team. Heckman, Frick, Guo and Jamie Abernathy also claimed gold in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Lions are striving to break the school record for the second straight year in the 200 medley relay, and they’re a couple of seconds off of the 200 free relay record, too.

“We’re hoping to get the school record in the 200 free relay, but to do that, we’re all going to have to go 25-lows, 25.1s around there,” Frick said. “We’re hoping to do that at state or maybe even league.”

Along with helping the Lions win two relays, Frick won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:09.39. Frick takes the same team-first mindset that she has in the relays into her individual events.

“I’m pretty happy with it, but I’m also a lot happier that I can help my team get points so we can win,” Frick said.

Rounding out the event champions for the Lions was Eden Kingery, who scored 199.25 points to win the 1-meter dive. Kingery admitted that she still wasn’t at her best, but she still didn’t have too much to hang her head about, either.

As a cheerleader and gymnast, Kingery works on many of the same skills that she uses for diving in her other two sports.

“Gymnastics helps a lot,” Kingery said. “That’s part of the reason I started diving. That helps with flipping and twisting, obviously.”

Although Kingery and the Lions won six of the 12 events, the Firebirds weren’t too far behind throughout the meet. Free State also had a swimmer win multiple events in Claire Campbell, who clocked in with first-place times in the 200-and 500-yard freestyles. Campbell posted a time of 1:55.17 in the 200 free and 5:10.47 in the 500 free.

“I felt pretty good,” Campbell said. “I just had a lot of fun racing. That’s just my main goal is to go out and race whoever is with me.”

The long distance freestyle brings the competitiveness out in Campbell, but she noted that there is another big component involved when it comes to the success of her and her teammates.

“I think just coming together and having fun with it and knowing that the outcome will come as long as we just have fun and support each other,” Campbell said.

Campbell helped the Firebirds close out the meet with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Kasey Dunn, Janet Stefanov and Ainsley Krug joined Campbell on the final relay.

Krug and Ava Cormaney also garnered gold in the individual events. Cormaney clocked in at 56.23 to win the 100-yard freestyle, while Krug finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.68.

“I feel really confident in the direction that our team is heading, and I feel really confident in my racing as well,” Campbell said. “I feel really strong. I feel by the end of the season that our team is going to really pull it together.”

The Firebirds are excited about the chance to turn the tables on the Lions at Lawrence’s home meet at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Lions will play host to Free State, Leavenworth, Mill Valley, Shawnee Heights, Topeka West and Washburn Rural.

“It’s really fun to get to race them (the Lions) at mostly every meet that we go to,” Campbell said. “It’s nice just to have a bar set because they set a nice high bar and we just try to get closer and closer each time.”

Free State Invitational

Tuesday at Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center

Team Scores — 1. Lawrence High 574, 2. Free State 563, 3. Shawnee Mission South 421, 4. Bishop Miege 232.5, 5. Shawnee Mission Northwest 173.5.

Lawrence High results

200 medley relay — 1. Maddie Dean, Marian Frick, Emily Guo, Madi Heckman, 1:54.89; 4. Iris Sherron, Payton Gunderson, Aubrey Fischer, Brooke Wroten, 2:02.92; 11. Lillian Wilson-Lewis, Jillian Wilson, Lisa Yang, Lillian Derby, 2:23.54; 14. Ella Williams, Megan Durner, Beth Brandt, Molly Daugherty, 2:37.05.

200 freestyle — 2. Morgan Jones, 2:02.23; 9. Haven Bellerive, 2:33.68; 13. Emily Gordon-Ross, 3:07.67; 14. Emily Kruse, 3:10.66.

200 IM — 1. Emily Guo, 2:12.70; 4. Megan Drumm, 2:26.83; 6. Iris Sherron, 2:33.90; 12. Chisato Kimura, 3:01.63.

50 freestyle — 2. Madi Heckman, 26.04; 6. Jamie Abernathy, 26.91; 9. Brooke Wroten, 27.25; 17. Payton Gunderson, 28.75; 20. Lillian Wilson-Lewis, 29.34; 22. Beth Brandt, 30.16; 25. Lillian Derby, 30.46; 29. Lisa Yang, 30.58; 52. Emily Esparza, 33.24; T-54. Ella Williams, 33.29; 57. Kendra Yergey, 33.45; 63. Molly Daugherty, 33.90; 65. Nicole Aqui, 34.37; 73. Josie Abernathy, 34.80; 74. Emily Gordon-Ross, 35.03; 78. Ana Lopez, 35.95; 79. Emily Johnson, 36.00; 82. Emily Kruse, 36.34; 83. Mya Gilbert, 36.47; 85. Emma-Frances Smith, 36.74; 86. Laura Teska, 36.77; 89. Katie Ahern, 36.93; 93. Madison Kuhle, 37.91; 96. Megan Durner, 38.18; 98. Grace Farney, 38.42; 100. Emma Parsons, 40.03; 101. Aurelia Balcazar, 40.11; 102. Mara Manolescu, 41.84; 106. Anna Nellis, 49.46.

1-meter dive — 1. Eden Kingery, 199.25; 14. Juleah Williams, 92.10; 15. Nancy Mai, 59.85.

100 butterfly — 1. Emily Guo, 59.76; 4. Maddie Dean, 1:04.53; 7. Marian Frick, 1:08.10; 12. Lisa Yang, 1:23.36.

100 freestyle — 3. Aubrey Fischer, 56.98; 7. Jamie Abernathy, 58.37; 8. Megan Drumm, 58.56; 17. Haven Bellerive, 1:06.78; 30. Chisato Kimura, 1:11.96; 37. Emily Esparza, 1:16.97; 38. Nicole Aqui, 1:17.30.

500 freestyle — 2. Morgan Jones, 5:23.76; 4. Iris Sherron, 5:53.34; 5. Jillian Wilson, 5:59.16.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Marian Frick, Jamie Abernathy, Emily Guo, Madi Heckman, 1:43.89; 5. Megan Drumm, Payton Gunderson, Brooke Wroten, Morgan Jones, 1:49.29; 8. Lisa Yang, Beth Brandt, Chisato Kimura, Haven Bellerive, 1:59.98; 17. Mya Gilbert, Emily Johnson, Laura Teska, Josie Abernathy, 2:22.29; 21. Emma-Frances Smith, Katie Ahern, Emily Kruse, Emily Gordon-Ross, 2:25.58; 24. Emma Parsons, Grace Farney, Mara Manolescu, Madison Kuhle, 2:37.71; DQ. Lillian Derby, Molly Daugherty, Emily Esparza, Kendra Yergey.

100 backstroke — 3. Aubrey Fischer, 1:03.22; 5. Maddie Dean, 1:04.81; 8. Jillian Wilson, 1:09.68; 16. Lillian Wilson-Lewis, 1:23.70; 21. Ella Williams, 1:38.32.

100 breaststroke — 1. Marian Frick, 1:09.39; 4. Madi Heckman, 1:13.24; 7. Payton Gunderson, 1:17.16; 23. Megan Durner, 1:39.16; 24. Ana Lopez, 1:39.35; 27. Mya Gilbert, 1:44.64; 28. Mara Manolescu, 1:45.23; DQ. Kendra Yergey.

400 freestyle relay — 2. Morgan Jones, Jamie Abernathy, Megan Drumm, Aubrey Fischer, 3:48.76; 3. Brooke Wroten, Jillian Wilson, Iris Sherron, Maddie Dean, 4:04.03; 8. Lillian Derby, Beth Brandt, Lillian Wilson-Lewis, Haven Bellerive, 4:38.75; 11. Emily Esparza, Molly Daugherty, Emma-Frances Smith, Chisato Kimura, 5:16.12.

Free State results

200 medley relay — 2. Ainsley Krug, Payton Krug, Piper Rogers, Ava Cormaney, 1:57.51; 3. Janet Stefanov, Lydia Zicker, Nora Agah, Kasey Dunn, 2:01.00; 8. Anna Welton, Rose Pilakowski, Richa Joshi, Maraget Uhler, 2:16.92; 9. Haleigh Dahl, Anastasia Bunting, Emmaleigh Hancock, Sophia Riedemann, 2:19.66.

200 freestyle — 1. Claire Campbell, 1:55.17; 3. Kasey Dunn, 2:03.65; 5. Haleigh Dahl, 2:22.62; 6. Naomi Soderling, 2:24.54.

200 IM — 2. Payton Krug, 2:20.89; 3. Lydia Zicker, 2:21.29; 7. Nora Agah, 2:41.04; 9. Anastasia Bunting, 2:53.55.

50 freestyle — 8. Piper Rogers, 27.14; 13. Gracie Caldwell, 27.71; 16. Hailei Detwiler, 28.72; 21. Richa Joshi, 29.95; 23. Emmaleigh Hancock, 30.19; 24. Caroline Kelton, 30.24; 30. Lily Thompson, 30.73; 31. Sophia Riedemann, 30.74; 32. Margaret Uhler, 30.79; 34. Maleena Hatfield, 31.11; 37. Anna Welton, 31.66; 40. Maddie Clark, 32.32; 45. Logan White, 32.78; 47. Sara Pavlyak, 32.95; 60. Addeline Garcia, 33.65; 62. Nethni Weerasekara, 33.88; 67. Sidney Patrick, 34.52; 71. Ashlyn Merrill, 34.73; 81. Emma Harris, 36.29; 84. Sarah Church, 36.61; 88. Victoria Vazquez-Ortega, 36.92; 92. Ellie White, 37.85; 104. Ayla Nguyen, 43.47.

1-meter dive — 6. Mikayla Williams, 158.55; 7. Monica Kimmel, 158.00; 8. Savanna Dey, 157.15; 12. Kate Pilakowski, 140.75.

100 butterfly — 2. Kasey Dunn, 1:00.78; 5. Piper Rogers, 1:05.83; 6. Nora Agah, 1:07.97; 13. Lily Thompson, 1:25.74.

100 freestyle — 1. Ava Cormaney, 56.23; 9. Janet Stefanov, 58.69; 12. Gracie Caldwell, 1:01.54; 18. Richa Joshi, 1:07.31; 19. Caroline Kelton, 1:07.92; 24. Margaret Uhler, 1:10.12; 25. Sophia Riedemann, 1:01.40; 29. Rose Pilakowski, 1:11.16; 31. Maddie Clark, 1:12.89; 33. Logan White, 1:13.59; 44. Sydney Patrick, 1:20.80; 45. Sara Pavlyak, 1:21.03; 46. Emma Harris, 1:21.14; 49. Victoria Vazquez-Ortega, 1:21.68; 50. Ashlyn Merrill, 1:21.72; 52. Sarah Church, 1:24.65; 57. Ellie White, 1:28.20.

500 freestyle — 1. Claire Campbell, 5:10.47; 3. Ainsley Krug, 5:36.48; 8. Naomi Soderling, 6:34.62; 9. Emmaleigh Hancock, 7:03.39.

200 freestyle relay — 2. Ava Cormaney, Payton Krug, Piper Rogers, Claire Campbell, 1:44.14; 6. Nora Agah, Hailei Detwiler, Rica Joshi, Gracie Caldwell, 1:57.09; 10. Caroline Kelton, Sophia Riedemann, Rose Pilakowski, Lily Thompson, 2:04.37; 12. Maddie Clark, Haleigh Dahl, Maleena Hatfield, Margaret Uhler, 2:07.28; 18. Sydney Patrick, Ashlyn Merrill, Nethni Weerasekara, Ellie White, 2:24.01; 20. Ayla Nguyen, Addeline Garcia, Anastasia Bunting, Logan White, 2:25.24; 22. Sarah Church, Victoria Vazquez-Ortega, Emma Harris, Sara Pavlyak, 2:30.25; 23. Savanna Dey, Monica Kimmel, Kate Pilakowski, Mikayla Williams, 2:35.31.

100 backstroke — 1. Ainsley Krug, 1:01.68; 4. Janet Stefanov, 1:04.51; 6. Hailei Detwiler, 1:08.40; 11. Anna Welton, 1:15.37; 14. Haleigh Dahl, 1:16.23; 15. Addeline Garcia, 1:22.06.

100 breaststroke — 2. Ava Cormaney, 1:12.92; 3. Payton Krug, 1:13.20; 5. Lydia Zicker, 1:13.58; 11. Rose Pilakowski, 1:23.95; 14. Maleena Hatfield, 1:28.33; 18. Anastasia Bunting, 1:30.25; 22. Nethni Weerasekara, 1:39.11; 29. Ayla Nguyen, 1:46.17.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Kasey Dunn, Janet Stefanov, Ainsley Krug, Claire Campbell, 3:46.04; 5. Hailei Detwiler, Gracie Caldwell, Caroline Kelton, Lydia Zicker, 4:13.03; 10. Naomi Soderling, Lily Thompson, Maleena Hatfield, Maddie Clark, 4:52.89.