Free State's Ava Cormaney dives off the block to start the 200-yard freestyle relay against Lawrence High during a dual meet, Friday, April 24, 2015 at Free State High School.

For years, Lawrence High swimming coach Kent McDonald has talked about having a head-to-head dual with rival Free State. It finally happened Friday at Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center.

The timing, however, couldn’t have been worse for the Lions. For one thing, the Firebirds had won all five of their meets this season and toppled perennial power Shawnee Mission East in a dual. Plus, LHS lacked its full compliment of swimmers in the City Showdown thanks to a scheduling conflict with the school’s spring Showtime program, illnesses and even a college visit.

By the time the final race concluded, FSHS had swept all 12 events and outscored LHS 151-34. The Firebirds took at least the top two spots in nine events, including the top three in the 50 free, 100 fly, 100 breast and 400 free relay. What’s more, FSHS had the top five swimmers in the 100 back and the top six in the 100 free.

Free State's Ava Cormaney dives off the block to start the 200-yard freestyle relay against Lawrence High during a dual meet, Friday, April 24, 2015 at Free State High School.

Free State’s Courtney Caldwell, who won the 50 free and swam on the winning 200 medley relay, 200 free relay and 400 free relay teams, said the one-sidedness didn’t take away from the afternoon’s festivities.

“Dual meets especially,” Caldwell pointed out, “can be a little bit more competitive than the rest of the meets.”

Still, Free State coach Annette McDonald knew what they were getting into, so the Firebirds mixed up their relay combinations and had swimmers competing in atypical races.

“It allowed us to switch things around, for the girls to have fun with each other,” the FSHS coach said, “but they raced. I think you’re seeing consistency.”

The coaching move, Chloe Riedemann said, allowed the Firebirds to cut loose while bettering their rivals.

Lawrence High's Brittany Archer competes in the 50-yard freestyle event against Free State, Friday, April 24, 2015 at Free State High School.

“Everybody kind of steps outside of their comfort zone and what they normally do,” Riedemann explained. “That way we all kind of have to embrace it and not really know what to expect. It’s less pressure, too, I think.”

Cierra Campbell, usually a distance swimmer, felt some heat while successfully winning back-to-back events: the 200 fly and 100 free. She had to hold off her younger sister, Claire, to complete the feat in the 100 free.

“I had some competition there,” Cierra said. “I was pushing at the end. Big sister has to win.”

The older sibling finished in 54.18 seconds, just 0.96 seconds ahead of Claire.

“She’s quick,” Cierra conceded, adding the two support one another and didn’t partake in any trash talking.

Kent McDonald also felt some familial love, considering his wife, Annette, didn’t throw all of her talented swimmers in their go-to races. Free State even won the 500 with a sprinter, Sydney Sirimongkhon-Dyck.

“That did make it fun,” Kent said after experiencing some mercy from his wife. “It was nice of her to do that. We were still trying to go with our best in their best events as much as we could. Some of them had to leave during the meet.”

City Showdown

200 medley relay — 1. FS: Janet Stefanov, Ava Cormaney, Courtney Caldwell, Sydney Sirimongkhon-Dyck, 1:57.16; 2. FS: Charlotte Crandall, Kat LaFever, Cierra Campbell, Linda Liu, 2:02.21; 3. LHS: Hannah Lee, Mary Reed-Weston, Morgan Traughber, Brittany Archer, 2:04.52; 4. FS: Hailei Detwiler, Anna McCurdy, Piper Rogers, Alexa Malik, 2:05.24; 5. LHS: Chandler Sells, Vanessa Hernandez, Alex Ginsberg, Chisato Kimura, 2:18.47; 6. FS: Maura MacDonald, Maleena Hatfield, Rowan Plinsky, Margaret Uhler, 2:20.84; 7. FS: Heather Buckingham, Paxton Brittingham, Chloe Riedemann, Taylor Thomas, 2:23.43; 8. FS: Sophia Riedemann, Caroline Kelton, Trenna Soderling, Maddie Clark, 2:31.24; 9. LHS: Julia Randolph, Eleanor Matheis, Kendra Yergey, Taylor Schoepf, 2:35.74; 10. FS: Maddie Hill, Madeline Nachtigal, Hannah Malloy, Aubin Murphy, 2:42.83; 11. LHS: Alicia Ruder, Teressa Tinebra, Abbie Treff, Bella Whittaker, 2:45.42.

200 free — 1. Claire Campbell, FS, 1:59.92; 2. Carter Stacey, FS, 2:08.76; 3. Ginsberg, LHS, 2:13.76; 4. Detwiler, FS, 2:14.46; 5. Sydney Williams, FS, 2:14.67; 6. Lydia Zicker, FS, 2:14.75; 7. Courtney Cruickshank, FS, 2:16.61; 8. Plinsky, FS, 2:26.02; 9. Kimberly Myers, LHS, 2:42.42; 10. Hanna Hall, LHS, 2:55.86.

200 IM — 1. Cormaney, FS, 2:18.19; 2. Traughber, LHS, 2:18.46; 3. Reed-Weston, LHS, 2:20.77; 4. McCurdy, FS, 2:25.77; 5. Crandall, FS, 2:26.87; 6. Treff, LHS, 3:16.87; 7. Randolph, LHS, 3:31.47.

50 free — 1. Caldwell, FS, 24.31; 2. Sirimongkhon-Dyck, FS, 25.56; 3. Simone Herlihy, FS, 26.61; 4. Nicole Oblon, LHS, 27.48; 5. Liu, FS, 28.02; 6. Hernandez, LHS, 28.54; 7. Kara Krannawitter, FS, 28.55; 8. C. Riedemann, FS, 29.22; 9. Soderling, FS, 29.84; 10. Nathalie Chow Yuen, FS, 31.25; 11. Uhler, FS, 31.67; 12. Brittingham, FS, 32.06; 13. Maleena Hatfield, FS, 32.15; 14. Hannah Malloy, FS, 32.25; 15. Emma Steimle, FS, 32.54; 16. Thomas, FS, 32.65; 17. Yergey, LHS, 33.68; 18. Kelton, FS, 34.00; 19. Tinebra, LHS, 34.13; 20. Murphy, FS, 34.31; 21. Matheis, LHS, 34.46; 22. Sydney Bollinger, FS, 34.88; 23. Buckingham, FS, 34.92; 24. Ruder, LHS, 34.98; 25. Jordan Myers, LHS, 36.08; 26. Nachtigal, FS, 36.20; 27. Taylor Nation, LHS, 36.87; 28. Whittaker, LHS, 37.48; 29. Shahzad Hajiarbabi, LHS, 37.94; 30. Hill, FS, 39.82; 31. Shanae McCann, LHS, 40.90; 32. Sonal Soni, FS, 42.56; 33. Milica Jovanovic, LHS, 44.24.

1-meter diving — 1. Haley Johnson, FS, 262.50; 2. Alexis Luinstra, FS, 199.20; 3. Naomi Dale, LHS, 182.80; 4. Susan Frick, LHS, 132.95.

100 fly — 1. Cierra Campbell, FS, 1:00.36; 2. Rogers, FS, 1:02.79; 3. Zicker, FS, 1:05.98; 4. Ginsberg, LHS, 1:08.94; 5. Reed-Weston, LHS, 1:11.00; 6. Plinsky, FS, 1:15.83; 7. Treff, LHS, 1:31.81.

100 free — 1. Cierra Campbell, FS, 54.18; 2. Claire Campbell, FS, 55.14; 3. Malik, FS, 57.22; 4. Stefanov, FS, 59.18; 5. Stacey, FS, 59.63; 6. Herlihy, FS, 1:00.30; 7. Oblon, LHS, 1:00.90; 8. Liu, FS, 1:01.14; 9. Krannawitter, FS, 1:03.71; 10. Kimura, LHS, 1:07.62; 11. Sells, LHS, 1:07.86; 12. Chow Yuen, FS, 1:11.34; 13. Thomas, FS, 1:11.74; 14. Clark, FS, 1:16.22; 15. Nachtigal, FS, 1:21.10; 16. Hill, FS, 1:28.06.

500 free — 1. Sirimongkhon-Dyck, FS, 5:40.14; 2. Archer, LHS, 5:44.65; 3. Williams, FS, 6:04.10; 4.Myers, LHS, 7:13.50; 5. Steimle, FS, 7:15.93; 6. Schoepf, LHS, 7:24.06; 7. Hall, LHS, 8:06.79.

200 free relay — 1. FS: Cormaney, Claire Campbll, Malik, Caldwell, 1:42.70; 2. LHS: Traughber, Lee, Oblon, Reed-Weston, 1:47.82; 3. FS: Liu, Roers, Zicker, Herlihy, 1:51.87; 4. FS: Stacey, Cruickshank, Krannawitter, Riedemann, 1:55.71; 5. LHS: Hernandez, Kimura, Schoepf, Ginsberg, 2:00.99; 6. FS: Chow Yuen, MacDonald, Riedemann, Uhler, 2:07.54; 7. FS: Clark, Hatfield, Malloy, Thomas, 2:10.13; 8. LHS: Yergey, Frick, Hall, Myers, 2:14.66; 9. FS: Bollinger, Kelton, Plinsky, Nachtigal, 2:19.92; 10. LHS: Matheis, Hajiarbabi, Tinebra, Dale, 2:22.04; 11. LHS: Jovanovic, Ruder, Nation, McCann, 2:40.84.

100 back — 1. Stefanov, FS, 1:05.11; 2. Detwiler, FS, 1:06.40; 3. Crandall, FS, 1:07.90; 4. McCurdy, FS, 1:09.00; 5. Zoe Prather, FS, 1:09.74; 6. Archer, LHS, 1:14.19; 7. Buckingham, FS, 1:22.52; 8. Sells, LHS, 1:24.39; 9. Myers, LHS, 1:33.35.

100 breast — 1. Cormaney, FS, 1:11.79; 2. LaFever, FS, 1:15.29; 3. Cruickshank, FS, 1:17.96; 4. Lee, LHS, 1:20.68; 5. Soderling, FS, 1:20.69; 6. Hernandez, LHS, 1:24.83; 7. Hatfield, FS, 1:30.27; 8. Brittingham, FS, 1:34.62; 9. Matheis, LHS, 1:36.31.

400 free relay — 1. FS: Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Stefanov, Eliza Anderson, Caldwell, 3:54.42; 2. FS: Claire Campbell, Detwiler, Crandall, Herlihy, 4:02.51; 3. FS: McCurdy, Zicker, Williams, Cierra Campbell, 4:03.24; 4. LHS: Oblon, Archer, Lee, Traughber, 4:04.87; 5. LHS: Yergey, Schoepf, Sells, Kimura, 4:49.68; 6. FS: Chow Yuen, Buckingham, Hill, Uhler, 5:09.46; 7. LHS: Tinebra, Treff, Myers, Hall, 5:22.42.