City League’s best swim to the surface as East clinches 11th straight title

After Katerina Savvides’ last solo race in a City League pool, she reached over and hugged her teammate in the lane to her right.

She said she knew Baylor McPherson was the reason she won the 100-meter backstroke at 59.38 seconds.

“I feel like I go my fastest when I have my teammates pushing me,” she said. “That’s why I’m a four-time City League champ. I’m going to miss it. There is nothing like it.”

Savvides’ win was one of five East victories out of the 12 events at the City League championship meet. The Blue Aces won their 11th straight league title Friday, beating Kapaun and the field by 65 points and finishing with 350 total.

Although the margin was wide, the 2019 City League field was filled with most of the top swimmers in the Wichita area and three state title-contending teams. East is shooting for its third straight Class 6A crown this year while Bishop Carroll and Kapaun figure to battle in 5A.

East coach Joe Hutchinson said that competition will make all teams and swimmers better in the long run.

“The hardest thing is swimming when you know you’re going to win,” he said. “Your body just doesn’t want to do it. When you have to race, that is when you grow the most and become a much better swimmer.”

There were three new City League record times Friday night. None of them came from East.

West junior Maci McCullough, primarily a distance swimmer, flipped the switch to set the 100-yard freestyle record at 52.62 seconds, and East junior Astrid Dirkzwager would have set it, too, at 52.66. They beat a 2009 mark at 52.84.

Carroll senior Sydney Schmidt broke the 50-yard freestyle record at 24.33 seconds. Dirkzwager came runner-up but would have beaten that record as well, swimming in 24.35 seconds. Former East swimmer Julia Whitfield’s mark of 24.37 stood for one year.

And Carroll freshman Zoe Winter set the 200-meter individual medley mark at 2:06.04. McCullough would have set it, too, finishing at 2:07.97.

“Nobody expects you to go out there and do it, so when you do, it’s just an amazing feeling,” McCullough said. “It’s like, ‘What? Is that real?’ Swimming is 80 percent mental.”

Although there were several outstanding individual performances in 2019, East displayed an unmatched level of depth.

Savvides and fellow senior Gillian Pierce-Butt finished their City League careers continuing the Aces’ legacy with an 11th straight team leap into the pool upon the announcement of the team scores.

“This pool has so many memories,” she said. “Knowing that I’ve come this far with this team and that I’ve made an impact is a really special time.”

Pierce-Butt transferred to East as a junior. She said when she came into the program, she knew she needed to up the ante to keep up.

An All-Metro selection last year, she took third in the 500-yard freestyle Friday. She said with so many outstanding swims out of the East swimmers, she doesn’t know if there will be another team feel like the 2019 Aces.

“It is just so wholesome and good,” she said. “Having everyone there cheering for you. You know you have everyone’s back and they have yours. That’s just an indescribable feeling.”

In two weeks, East will go for a first in Wichita girls swim history. No area team has won three straight girls swim titles.

“It’s going to be close,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of fast swims up there, so we have got to squeeze every point we can.”

Results

Event 1: 200-Yard Medley Relay

1. Bishop Carroll, 1:50.82

2. Wichita East, 1:52.32

3. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1:53.65

Event 2: 200-Yard Freestyle

1. Ariana Dirkzwager (Wichita East), 1:57.64

2. Olivia Orth (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), 2:02.73

3. Natalie Knapp (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), 2:04.70

Event 3: 200-Yard Individual Medley

1. Zoe Winter (Bishop Carroll), 2:06.04 - City League record

2. Maci McCullough (Wichita West), 2:07.97

3. Claire Conover (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), 2:15.65

Event 4: 50-Yard Freestyle

1. Sydney Schmidt (Bishop Carroll), 24.33 - City League record

2. Astrid Dirkzwager (Wichita East), 24.35

3. Eloise Lavacek (Wichita East), 25.79

Event 5: Diving

1. Brianna Reece (Wichita Heights), 420.15

2. Mikaela Meyer (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), 402.55

3. Ivie Kierl (Wichita Heights), 323.00

Event 6: 100-Yard Butterfly

1. Zoe Winter (Bishop Carroll), 57.51

2. Katerina Savvides (Wichita East), 1:00.42

3. Cindy Broadrick (Wichita Heights), 1:00.80

Event 7: 100-Yard Freestyle

1. Maci McCullough (Wichita West), 52.62 - City League record

2. Astrid Dirkzwager (Wichita East), 52.66

3. Sydney Schmidt (Bishop Carroll), 53.86

Event 8: 500-Yard Freestyle

1. Ariana Dirkzwager (Wichita East), 5:12.05

2. Lexie Shelton (Bishop Carroll), 5:12.98

3. Gillian Pierce-Butt (Wichita East), 5:22.63

Event 9: 200-Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Wichita East, 1:40.22

2. Bishop Carroll, 1:42.15

3. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1:46.44

Event 10: 100-Yard Backstroke

1. Katerina Savvides (Wichita East), 59.38

2. Baylor McPherson (Wichita East), 1:00.08

3. Sydney Le (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), 1:00.97

Event 11: 100-Yard Breaststroke

1. Lexie Shelton (Bishop Carroll), 1:07.64

2. Claire Conover (Kapaun Mt. Carmel), 1:07.79

3. Kate Malicoat (Wichita East), 1:15.20

Event 12: 400-Yard Freestyle Relay

1. Wichita East, 3:37.33

2. Bishop Carroll, 3:40.98

3. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 3:49.79

Team Scores

1. Wichita East, 350

2. Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 285

3. Bishop Carroll, 273

This story was originally published May 4, 2019 at 4:37 AM.

Hayden Barber

The Wichita Eagle

316-269-6760

Wichita Eagle preps reporter Hayden Barber brings the area updates on all high school sports while adding those hard-to-find human-interest stories on Wichita’s student-athletes.