photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State's Sam Bauch swims the 100-yard fly in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

Lenexa — Lawrence and Free State swim and dive were at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday for a five-team meet in which the Firebirds came second and the Lions placed fifth.

Free State scored 131 team points, second only to Shawnee Mission East’s 218. Lawrence finished with 57 points and trailed Shawnee Mission West at fourth place by seven points.

“Four considerations times is good… expected but still good,” Lawrence coach Elle Weber said. “You can tell they’re a little tired on a Friday night after a week of school. They were excited to be racing again.”

The meet is a challenging one, both because of the timing of being late on a Friday and also being the first race since the winter break. To combat that, Free State did more sprint sets during the week to push the swimmers to be physically ready to race.

“They came out to race, and I think they were happy with how they performed,” Free State coach Janna Skinner said. “We had a lot of moaning and groaning (at practice), but (the practice work) showed in the water.”

The meet started with diving, which Free State and Lawrence both had two divers compete in. Constantine Shipley placed sixth overall with a 182.55 score, while Lawrence’s Cale Ward placed seventh at 166.45. Free State’s Ollie Coles took eighth at 165.80, and Lawrence diver Liam Meyers finished 12th with a 128.80 score.

“They dive so clean,” Skinner said. “I’m pushing Ollie to throw some harder dives, because he has the points to qualify for state. Constantine is so reliable. Getting him to work on his back approach is his next step.”

The swimming events started with the 200-yard medley relay, which Free State’s top team took second in with a 1-minute, 46.31-second time. Free State’s B team took fifth, while the C team placed seventh. The Lions’ A team came in eighth at 2:14.90.

For the other relays, the Firebirds placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:32.22, and the Lions finished third at 1:40.23. Both teams dropped time, with the Firebirds dropping almost four seconds and the Lions a second. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Free State was the runner-up at 3:35.92, while the Lions were fifth at 3:56.78.

Free State’s Jason Song placed third in the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:33.84-second time. Fellow Firebird Ethan Lynch placed next to Song at fourth after swimming in 2:38.97.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Firebird Anderson Bateman was the runner-up at 22.60 seconds, dropping 0.79 seconds from his time. Lawrence’s Alex Oral placed seventh with a 23.61-second time, while Free State’s Eli Kempf took ninth at 24.42 seconds. Free State’s Hank Walter took 15th at 26.20 seconds and nearly dropped two seconds, and Lawrence’s Aiden Bierschbach placed 16th at 26.31 seconds.

Bateman later won the 100-yard freestyle at 49.18 seconds, dropping 2.11 seconds from his time. Free State’s Owen Carnagey placed fifth in the race at 53.16 seconds, while Bierschbach took 13th at 1:02.35. Free State’s Ruan Strydom and Issac Perrins placed 15th and 17th, respectively, while Lawrence’s Max Seusy took 18th. Perrins dropped 2.54 seconds off his time, while Seusy dropped 1.98 seconds.

Free State’s Sam Bauch was the runner-up in the 100-yard fly with a 56.00-second time. Fellow Firebird Gavin Koonce placed sixth at 1:05.83, while Lawrence’s Logan Kohart took eighth at 1:27.71.

Lawrence’s Lawson Donly won the 500-yard freestyle at 5:34.52, which was 5.83 seconds faster than his previous best.

“I’m super proud of him,” Weber said. “He’s a non-club swimmer, so he’s a bit unconventional. For him to get two consideration times is great.”

Fellow Lion Garrett Rhea placed fifth in the race at 6:41.10 and dropped 11.64 seconds. Firebird Owen Metz finished seventh at 6:48.43, and his Firebird teammate Carter Braden took ninth at 7:42.52.

Free State’s Ewan Campbell was the runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke with a 1:00.70 time, which was 3.00 seconds faster than his previous best. Lawrence’s Armando Romero-Perez placed seventh at 1:10.09, and Lynch took 10th at 1:13.54. Fellow Firebird Cooper Trummer finished 11th at 1:19.85, while Lions Torin Yung and Isaac Reed placed 12th and 14th, respectively.

Lawrence’s Oral was the runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:08.42. Free State’s Graysen Koonce took ninth at 1:11.57, while Song placed 11th at 1:16.17.

With winter break over, it’s a quick sprint to the end of the boys swim and dive season. The Sunflower League meet is in less than a month, with the state meet coming in six weeks. Both teams are preparing for the high number of meets in a short amount of time.

“We’ve got a lot of improvement from guys who are brand new,” Weber said. “When they’re on break they don’t realize how much time is going by. We’ve got a bunch of meets, so it’ll be exciting to have the whole team back and ready to go.”

Free State will take a look at everyone’s preseason goals, so that swimmers can see their progress and potentially raise their end-of-season goals for themselves.

“I think a lot of them are going to be surprised at how low they set those standards for themselves,” Skinner said. “Being able to reset those goals will help them stay focused, because it does gruel on.”

Free State will host Lawrence along with Turner, Manhattan and Washburn Rural on Thursday, which will be senior night for the Firebirds.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State diver Ollie Coles starts to jump in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Ethan Lynch swims his portion of the 200-yard medley relay in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Graysen Koonce swims his portion of the 200-yard medley relay in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Alex Velasco-Crates touches the side of the pool in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Owen Metz swims the 200-yard freestyle in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Jason Song swims the 200-yard individual medley in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Garrett Rhea swims the 500-yard freestyle in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State’s Carter Braden swims the 500-yard freestyle in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Isaac Reed swims the 100-yard backstroke in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Armando Romero-Perez swims the 100-yard backstroke in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.

photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence’s Alex Oral swims the 100-yard breaststroke in a swim and dive meet at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Lenexa.