photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State's Owen Metz swims the 500-yard freestyle in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

The Free State and Lawrence boys swim and dive teams competed in a triangular alongside Shawnee Mission North on Wednesday, with the Firebirds winning by scoring 273 points.

Lawrence entered with some injuries and illness spreading through the team, leaving the Lions lighter than usual for the meet. Coach Elle Weber said the team performed about where she expected. For the Firebirds, Free State coach Janna Skinner saw some of the younger members of the team step up and swim well in the triangular.

The triangular started with diving, which Free State’s Gavin McIntosh won with 260.70 points. Fellow Firebird Constantine Shipley placed third with a 210.00 score. Lawrence’s Cale Ward placed fourth at 208.95, and Free State’s Oliver Coles finished fifth while scoring 199.35 points.

Those four divers all qualified for state. Lawrence’s Liam Meyers missed qualifying, but his score of 150.60 was seventh in the event.

Lawrence’s two divers are the first the team has had in a few years, and it’s something that Weber is excited about for the program going forward.

For relays, Free State’s team of Ewan Campbell, Graysen Koonce, Sam Bauch and Eli Kempf won the 200-yard medley relay at 1 minute, 52.81 seconds. Lawrence’s team of Armando Romero-Perez, Mateo Klish, Alex Oral and Garrett Rhea took third at 1:58.79.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Lawrence team of Lawson Donly, Aiden Bierschbach, Klish and Oral was the runner-up at 1:42.07, while Free State’s group of Anderson Bateman, Kempf, Koonce and John Blumenstiel took third. A Free State team of Bateman, Kempf, Bauch and Owen Carnagey won the 400-yard freestyle relay, while the Lions with Rhea, Klish, Bierschbach and Donly took second.

Bauch won the 200-yard freestyle at 1:54.42, which was a state consideration time. He fell 0.04 seconds short of the state qualifying time. Donly was the runner-up in the race at 2:01.35, and Campbell placed third at 2:14.44. Free State’s Owen Metz rounded out the top five at 2:28.95.

Carnagey won the 200-yard individual medley with a state consideration time of 2:16.48. Fellow Firebird Ying Tong Li placed third at 2:22.34, while Firebirds Jason Song took fourth and Ethan Lynch finished fifth.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Bateman won with a state consideration time of 23.39 seconds. Kempf placed third at 25.27, and Bierschbach took fourth at 26.05 seconds. Romero-Perez finished sixth at 26.78 seconds, and Koonce swam it in 26.88 seconds, which was seventh.

Bauch also won the 100-yard butterfly with a 55.92-second time that qualified for state. Oral was the runner-up at 57.43 seconds, which is a state consideration time. Li placed third at 1:03.95, and Koonce took fifth at 1:13.20.

It was a big day for Bauch, one of several underclassmen on the team who swam well and showed promise. He wore a drag suit to the meet, which is meant to increase resistance against the water to create a tougher challenge. He still managed to drop two seconds off his 100-yard butterfly personal-best time.

“You can see he is an amazing swimmer,” Skinner said. “He has so much potential. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.”

Bateman got his second win in the 100-yard freestyle in 51.29 seconds, which is a consideration time for state. Donly was the runner-up at 54.13 seconds, while Firebird Felix Ovsak placed eighth at 1:05.55 and Lion Max Seusy finished ninth at 1:10.42.

Metz won the 500-yard freestyle in 6:34.87, while Rhea was the runner-up at 6:52.74. Blumenstiel finished third at 7:00.97, and Bierschbach took fourth at 7:01.24.

“Metz had some pressure to swim the 500 there without his teammate, and he did an amazing job,” Skinner said. “I think he enjoyed the pressure. He dropped almost 30 seconds on his time.”

For the 100-yard backstroke, Campbell won it in 1:04.60, while Lynch took second at 1:15.36. Oral won the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:09.20, with Koonce finishing fourth at 1:14.60.

Both Lawrence and Free State will next compete after the new year on Jan. 9 at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence swimmer Isaac Reed swims the 100-yard backstroke in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Ewan Campbell swims the 100-yard backstroke in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State swimmer Jason Song swims the 100-yard breaststroke in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Mateo Klish swims the 100-yard breaststroke in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Ethan Lynch swims the 100-yard backstroke in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Garrettt Rhea swims the 500-yard freestyle in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Aiden Bierschbach swims in the 500-yard freestyle in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence swimmer Alex Velasco-Crates swims the 100-yard freestyle in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State swimmer Jack Larsen swims in the 100-yard freestyle in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State swimmer Sam Bauch swims in the 100-yard butterfly in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Ethan Lynch swims his section of the 200-yard medley relay in a boys swimming meet on Wednesday, Dec.17, 2025, at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.