Moore wins state title, Free State boys finish 5th at state swim meet

Swimmers wait for the start of the 200 medley relay at the Class 6A swim and dive state championships on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Topeka — Standing on top of the podium Saturday, Free State junior Reilley Moore was beaming with pride after winning in the 100 butterfly at the Class 6A state swim and dive championships.

“It’s like the best feeling you could ever ask for,” Moore said. “It’s like the biggest kind of honor in high school swimming, and I’m very happy to be able to have done it.”

Moore won the race with a time of 49.62, and even though it was a state championship race, Moore had a sense of calm from his experience in the event.

“I was really, really focused going into it, and I knew I had to be out fast,” Moore said. “And you know, it’s just a race that I’ve done so much that it’s kind of like a second nature to me. It just ended up going really well.”

Free State finished fifth as a team, led by Moore and junior Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck with both swimmers winning four medals. Lawrence High also competed at the meet, finishing 21st as a team.

Moore also finished fourth in the 200 medley relay (1:37.59), second in the 200 IM (1:55.99) and fifth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:28.94).

Sirimongkhon-Dyck finished sixth in the 200 IM (2:00.49), sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.48) and was on the two relay teams with Moore. He swam personal best times in three of his four events, and even though he was slightly disappointed with his 100 breaststroke time, he still chalks up the weekend as a success.

“I’m really happy with my team,” Sirimongkhon-Dyck said. “I know everybody that swam today worked their hardest. I tried, and I’m just proud of myself and everyone on my team.”

The Firebirds also had six individual medalists, plus the two relays. Moore said his team didn’t know what to expect but left pleasantly surprised.

“But we had a lot of guys that yesterday did really well and made it into the top 16 or top eight when maybe they weren’t seeded that way,” Moore said. “There’s a lot of guys who just had the best swims of their life, and we couldn’t be more proud of them as a team.”

After a successful weekend for both himself and the Firebirds, Moore said he’s more motivated than ever.

“Maybe I have a chance to break a record or something like that,” Moore said. “It’s just something that motivates me more and to work harder.”

Jones leads LHS with 8th-place finish

After breaking yet another personal best in prelims Friday night, LHS junior Tyler Jones said he was shaking with excitement.

Jones swam a 4:58.79 in prelims — almost a seven-second drop from his personal best. On Saturday, he finished eighth with a 5:01.26.

“It’s huge for me,” Jones said. “Even today with almost three seconds added from what I did yesterday, I’m still really excited about (how) I did.”

Jones has said in the past he uses the race as a warm up for later relays.

But after medaling at state, does he still feel that way?

“Yes and no,” Jones said. “After the 500, I just did a cool down. But right after the cool down I started warming up. I still think of it as a warmup and use it to see where I can go.”

Jones added that this weekend was “the most progress I’ve made” in such a short amount of time with three new personal bests.

“It means a ton,” Jones said. “I’m almost speechless right now.”

Once he gets a chance to reflect on this weekend, Jones said he’s going to continue to build on the success of this state meet.

“I’m going to think about how well I did,” Jones said. “And I’m going to try to be like, ‘Ok, I went this time last year,’ and for next year at state I want to beat that time. I want to get better and better over time.”

Blake finishes 9th in 100 breaststroke

Earlier on Saturday, Bishop Seabury sophomore Ian Blake finished ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.45) in the Class 1-5A state meet. Blake was the lone BSA participant, and was able to take almost five seconds off his time in prelims from Friday (1:05.89).

Team Results

1. Blue Valley West: 345

2. Olathe East: 344

3. Shawnee Mission East: 191

4. Blue Valley North: 186

5. Free State: 160

6. Wichita East: 152

7. Washburn Rural: 121

8. Shawnee Mission North: 108

9. Olathe Northwest: 100

10. Blue Valley Northwest: 84

11. Shawnee Mission Northwest: 80

12. Olathe South: 72

13. Wichita North: 51

14. Mill Valley: 50

15. Wichita Heights: 47

16. Derby: 46

17. Manhattan: 38

18. Shawnee Mission South: 33

19. Shawnee Mission West: 27

20. Garden City: 25

21. Lawrence High: 18

22. Haysville Campus: 16

23. Olathe North: 14

24. Blue Valley: 13

25. Olathe West: 2

FSHS Results

200-yard medley relay: 4. (Finn VanDyke, Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Reilley Moore, Brady Flynn) (1:37.59).

200-yard IM: 2. Reilley Moore (1:55.99); 6. Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck (2:00.49).

50-yard freestyle: 11. Brady Flynn (22.60).

1-meter diving: 2. Elliott Ahlvers (390.45).

100-yard butterfly: 1. Reilley Moore (49.62).

100-yard freestyle: 8. Finn VanDyke (49.77).

200-yard freestyle relay: 5. (Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Matthew Reimer, Brady Flynn, Reilley Moore) (1:28.94).

100-yard backstroke: 12. Alexander Moore (56.66).

100-yard breaststroke: 6. Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck (1:00.48).

LHS Results

200-yard freestyle: 14. Tyler Jones (1:50.21).

500-yard freestyle: 8. Tyler Jones (5:01.26).

400-yard freestyle relay: 15. (Tyler Jones, Andrew Augustin, Ryan Christian, Maximilian Whittaker) (3:28.29).

COMMENTS

Welcome to the new LJWorld.com. Our old commenting system has been replaced with Facebook Comments. There is no longer a separate username and password login step. If you are already signed into Facebook within your browser, you will be able to comment. If you do not have a Facebook account and do not wish to create one, you will not be able to comment on stories.