photo by: Chris Duderstadt

Free State senior Claire Campbell, second from right, stands atop the awards podium after breaking her own Sunflower League record in the 200-yard freestyle at the Sunflower League swim and dive meet on Saturday at Lawrence High. Campbell clocked in with a first-place time of 1:51.37. Lawrence High junior Morgan Jones, right, took third.

After Lawrence High sophomore Marian Frick broke the Sunflower League record in the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday in the preliminaries of the league meet at LHS, Free State’s Claire Campbell followed suit with a record-setting performance of her own in Saturday’s finals.

The Free State senior already owned the league record in the 200-yard freestyle, but she lowered that mark on Saturday with a first-place time of 1:51.37.

The record-breaking swims by Frick and Campbell helped highlight top-three finishes for the Lions and Firebirds in the final team standings. Lawrence High finished second with 242 points, while Free State followed in third with 220. Shawnee Mission East won the meet with a team score of 297.

“It’s really exciting to see that we got second,” Frick said. “We’re all pretty happy about that. I think we’re going to keep that in mind going into our next couple of weeks of training because we’re hoping to get second or third at state to get on the podium.”

Frick followed up her league record time of 1:07.42 in prelims with a first-place time of 1:08.38 in finals. It took a few seconds on Friday for Frick to fully comprehend what she had accomplished.

“I was pretty excited. I actually really didn’t put it together at first,” Frick said. “I knew what the record was and I could see what I went, but that wasn’t the first thing that I realized. Then someone told me as I got out of the pool. I was really happy with it.”

The LHS sophomore also chipped in on the Lions’ first-place 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays. Maddie Dean, Frick, Emily Guo, Megan Drumm posted a time of 1:52:04 in the 200 medley relay. Frick, Drumm, Guo and Madi Heckman then clocked in at 1:41.67 for the 200 free relay. Both performances had Frick already thinking about what the Lions can do at state.

“I think we can win the 200 medley relay again this year. We’ve got to see what Wichita East is going to go, but we’re pretty hopeful for that,” Frick said. “The 200 free — that can always go different ways, but we’re hoping to get top three in that. I can’t really speak for the 400 free relay, but I’m sure they’ll get top four.”

The Firebirds prevented the Lions from making a clean sweep of the relays. Kasey Dunn, Janet Stefanov, Ava Cormaney and Campbell finished with a time of 3:39.13 to win the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“That was so exciting. I could hear everybody while I was swimming,” Campbell, who anchored the relay, said. “That was just a great way to end the meet. I’m just so proud of everybody that was on that relay just to put it together and be able to win it.”

The Kansas signee racked up the points in her individual events as well between breaking her own record in the 200 free and swimming to first place in the 500 free. Campbell’s previous record time in the 200 free was 1:51.66, and she went 1:51.37 on Saturday.

“It felt great. I actually felt really good while swimming and it was just like a great way to start the meet,” Campbell said. “That was my goal coming into this meet was to go faster than I did last year, which meant to break the league record. I was really excited that I met my goal.”

Campbell returned to the pool to post a time of 5:01.08 to win the 500 free, which was right around what she was looking for.

“The goal for league was just to kind of swim through it and develop a strategy for it. I feel confident,” Campbell said. “I think that race built my confidence knowing that I can go 5:01.0 and just see where I can go at state. I think under five minutes is definitely a possibility.”

While Campbell was pleased with her personal accomplishments, her love for the sport of swimming in her hometown was also sky high at the end of the league meet.

“I’m really proud of Free State and Lawrence High for both coming together and really showing what Lawrence is all about at this league meet,” Campbell said.

Sunflower League swimming and diving finals

Saturday at Lawrence High

Team scores — 1. Shawnee Mission East 297, 2. Lawrence High 242, 3. Free State 220, 4. SM South 113, 5. Olathe East 103, 6. Olathe South 94, 7. Olathe North 82, 8. Olathe Northwest 73.5, 9. SM West 63.5, 10. SM Northwest 50, 11. SM North 18, 12. Leavenworth 11.

Lawrence High/Free State results + league champions

200 medley relay — 1. Maddie Dean, Marian Frick, Emily Guo, Megan Drumm, LHS, 1:52:04; 2. Ainsley Krug, Payton Krug, Kasey Dunn, Lydia Zicker, FS, 1:52.78.

200 freestyle — 1. Claire Campbell, FS, 1:51.37; 3. Morgan Jones, LHS, 1:58.20; 5. Janet Stefanov, FS, 2:02.64; 6. Kasey Dunn, FS, 2:02.65; 14. Naomi Soderling, FS, 2:12.48.

200 IM — 1. Anika Lam, ON, 2:06.48; 2. Emily Guo, LHS, 2:10.54; 3. Payton Krug, FS, 2:13.75; 6. Lydia Zicker, FS, 2:20.70; 10. Megan Drumm, LHS, 2:22.17; 12. Payton Gunderson, LHS, 2:31.56; 15. Nora Agah, FS, 2:34.46.

50 freestyle — 1. Mackenzie Bravence, OE, 3. Marian Frick, LHS, 25.43; 5. Madi Heckman, LHS, 26.12; 13. Jamie Abernathy, LHS, 26.24.

1-meter dive — 1. Madi Vanderpool, SMW, 399.55; 3. Eden Kingery, LHS, 368.95.

100 butterfly — 1. Emma Linscott, SME, 58.57; 3. Emily Guo, LHS, 59.68; 4. Aubrey Fischer, LHS, 1:01.39; 6. Kasey Dunn, FS, 1:02.04; 10. Nora Agah, FS, 1:05.45.

100 freestyle — 1. Anika Lam, ON, 53.39; 3. Ava Cormaney, FS, 55.23; 5. Madi Heckman, LHS, 56.83; 8. Jamie Abernathy, LHS, 56.79; 11. Maddie Dean, LHS, 58.23; 13. Megan Drumm, LHS, 57.07.

500 freestyle — 1. Claire Campbell, FS, 5:01.08; 3. Morgan Jones, LHS, 5:14.79; 4. Ainsley Krug, FS, 5:24.29; 7. Iris Sherron, LHS, 5:44; 10. Jillian Wilson, LHS, 5:53.47; 11. Naomi Soderling, FS, 5:58.73; 14. Haleigh Dahl, FS, 6:04.36.

200 freestyle relay — 1. Marian Frick, Megan Drumm, Emily Guo, Madi Heckman, LHS, 1:41.67; DQ (false start). Lydia Zicker, Payton Krug, Ava Cormaney, Claire Campbell, FS.

100 backstroke — 1. Mackenzie Bravence, OE, 58.54; 2. Ainsley Krug, FS, 1:00.49; 4. Janet Stefanov, FS, 1:01.62; 7. Maddie Dean, LHS, 1:02.79; 9. Iris Sherron, LHS, 1:03.73; 11. Aubrey Fischer, LHS, 1:04.16; 15. Hailei Detwiler, FS, 1:06.73; 18. Jillian Wilson, LHS, 1:07.96.

100 breaststroke — 1. Marian Frick, LHS, 1:08.38; 2. Payton Krug, FS, 1:10.10; 4. Ava Cormaney, FS, 1:11.17; 8. Lydia Zicker, FS, 1:12.20; 16. Payton Gunderson, LHS, 1:19.05; 18. Rose Pilakowski, FS, 1:20.57.

400 freestyle relay — 1. Kasey Dunn, Janet Stefanov, Ava Cormaney, Claire Campbell, FS, 3:39.13; 3. Morgan Jones, Jamie Abernathy, Aubrey Fischer, Madi Heckman, LHS, 3:44.66.