photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Aidyn Guy in a swim meet at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center on Tuesday, April 17, 2025, in Lawrence.

The Free State girls swim team hosted Lawrence and Mill Valley at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center on Thursday for senior night and won with 255 points.

The Firebirds have nine seniors on the team this year, and the group has helped them start the year with four team wins in their first five meets.

Free State won nine events, including seven non-relay events. Four of those wins were with seniors.

“It was great that the seniors got a chance to win on senior night,” Free State coach Janna Skinner said. “That’s always special.”

Skinner was impressed with the team’s top-to-bottom drop in times, which will be important as it competes in league and state swim meets. A big part of that comes from the captains and seniors on the team pushing everyone to compete in practices.

For the seniors, it has been important for the team to win and swim hard while they can, knowing that the team only has a finite number of meets together.

“Our team is about the same size as last year, but it feels stronger,” Jocelyn Wilson said. “Everyone is pulling their weight, putting in the work.”

Free State had two divers compete, with Taylor Andrew leading the group with 176.90 points and Layla Bailey placing second with 160.70 points. Lawrence’s Naomi Klopfenstein was the third diver in the event, scoring 135.20 points. Behind Free State, Lawrence scored 178 points, and Mill Valley finished with 163.

For the relays, the Firebirds won the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team of Wilson, Helena Mattes, Gayla Gao and Kendall Dobski finished in one minute, 58.02 seconds. The 400-yard freestyle relay team with Wilson, Aidyn Guy, Gao and Mattes won with a 4:01.71 time. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Firebirds, with Patty Cooper, Maria Fuentes Sanchez, Dobski and Guy, placed third at 1:59.92.

Lawrence took third in the 200-yard medley relay at 2:15.89 with Violet Meinershagen, Ashlyn Tell, Ava Kohart and Harper Jay in the race. A team of Kohart, Channing Saint Onge, Jay and Tell placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:59.05, and the same team finished second in the 400-yard freestyle relay at 4:26.23.

Wilson won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:05.44, with Guy finishing third at 2:17.31 and fellow Firebird Amelia Rockhold placing fourth at 2:28.97. Saint Onge took fifth in the event at 2:30.16, and Meinershagen came one spot later at 2:32.28.

Mattes won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:15.20, with Cooper placing second at 2:44.62. Kohart had the highest finish for Lawrence at 2:49.90, which was third in the event. Isabella Paniagua with the Lions took fourth at 3:05.28, and fellow Lion Anna Gordon-Ross finished sixth in 3:25.58.

Dobski placed third in the 50-yard freestyle in 29.39 seconds, with Jay finishing fourth at 30.00 seconds. Free State’s Fuentes Sanchez scored four points, placing seventh and finishing in 30.63 seconds, and Ashlyn Johnson brought in three points for the Firebirds by placing eighth at 30.94 seconds. Wren Jay gave the Lions two points by finishing in 32.20 seconds, and Alexa Nauholz added a point for the Lions with a 32.87-second time.

Gao won the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02.14, with Cooper placing third in 1:17.08. Nauholz took fourth in 1:30.22, with Elizabeth Hite taking fifth at 1:40.93 and Bella Gragg finishing sixth at 1:50.89.

Wilson got her second event win with the 100-yard freestyle in 56.64 seconds. Two Firebirds — Fuentes Sanchez and Lillie Outcalt — tied for fourth at 1:07.21, and Saint Onge placed sixth at 1:08.26.

Mattes earned her second event win with the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:41.36 time. Guy was the runner-up at 6:08.11, and Lawrence’s Tell placed third at 6:14.64. Rockhold finished fourth at 6:42.04, Lawrence’s Sophia McLaughlin placed sixth at 7:05.71, and Gordon-Ross took seventh at 7:27.37.

Gao got her second win in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:04.60, while Johnson placed third at 1:15.13. Penelope All finished fourth at 1:18.79, and Meinershagen took fifth at 1:20.05.

Outcalt led the local swimmers in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:36.88 for third place. Bebel Piepergerdes placed fourth for Lawrence at 1:37.71, and fellow Lion Keira Wells took fifth at 1:38.69. Gragg swam it in 1:46.63 for sixth in the event.

Free State will be at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center for a triangular on Tuesday, while Lawrence will host a swim meet at Lawrence High School on the same day.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Anna Gordon-Ross swims the 500-yard freestyle in a swim meet at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center on Tuesday, April 17, 2025, in Lawrence.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence Bella Gragg swims in the 100-yard breaststroke in a swim meet at the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center on Tuesday, April 17, 2025, in Lawrence.