State swimming recap: Maize South breaks Kansas record, Andover Central wins title
For the Maize South boys swimming team, this entire season revolved around chasing the state meet record in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
That’s what made the payoff all the more sweet on Saturday when Maize South’s relay of Brandon Bowles, Reid Richardson, Eli Stucky and Regan Richardson not only broke the Class 5-1A state meet record at Shawnee Mission District Aquatic Center, but shattered it. The Mavericks’ winning time of 1 minute, 26.81 seconds was nearly a full second better than the previous record (1:27.77) and the best time posted in Kansas this season.
“We felt like the record was always within reach, but when you’re talking about breaking records you’re thinking a tenth or hundredths of a second,” Maize South coach Tedd Gibson said. “I did not see this coming. That was just a lights-out performance from those kids. Every relay exchange was absolutely perfect and those guys really wanted it. We talked about doing this all year.”
Regan Richardson gave Maize South the early lead and Stucky extended it, but where the relay went from good to great was the third leg from Bowles, who ripped off a 21.07 split — nearly a full two seconds faster than any other third leg in the race. Reid Richardson did his part as the closer to finish off the record-setting time.
“I knew from the first leg that we were going to have a good time, but I didn’t realize how special it was until after the swim,” Gibson said. “I had my back to the timing system. I couldn’t bring myself to look. I kept asking, ‘Did we get it? Did we get it?’ Then I hear them explode and I knew we got it. Then I turned around and saw the time and said, ‘Oh my goodness, we really got it.’”
The record-setting title highlighted a good day for Maize South, which also took home a third-place team trophy — its best performance at the state meet in program history.
The Richardson brothers were crucial to that, as Regan placed second in the 200 free (1:46.29) and fifth in the 100 free (48.28) and Reid took fourth in both of his races in the 50 free (21.89) and 100 free (48.05). Bowles also played a key role, logging a fifth-place finish in the 50 free (21.98) and helping all three of Maize South’s relays place — first in the 200 free, fourth in the 200 medley and fifth in the 400 free.
“We tapered for a meet like this,” Gibson said. “We wanted our best swims today and they gave it everything they had. I think if I tried to put them in the water tomorrow, they might drown. They’re physically exhausted. But they gave it all they had and I’m so proud of them.”
Andover Central uses relays to win first team title
Pressure mounted for the Andover Central 400-yard freestyle relay team when they realized the stakes entering the final event of the state meet. Central led Kapaun by 9 1/2 points in the team race, but the Crusaders had the faster seed time in the relay. If Kapaun swam well and Central did not, the team title could slip away.
But the four best swimmers on Andover Central were up for the challenge, as P.J. Damico, Noah Krueger, Lucas Krueger and Jackson Lee teamed up to win the 400 free relay and deliver the program’s first team state championship.
“The boys were very confident. I was not as confident as they were. I was really nervous,” Andover Central coach Allison Craig said. “There was a lot of pressure on those four swimmers, but they pulled it off. I’m so proud and happy for them.”
Even though the Jaguars did not have an individual state champion, they were able to win the team title because Damico, the Krueger brothers and Lee all placed high in both of their individual events and then teamed up again to win the 200 medley relay to start the day.
The program has been on the rise because of Damico, a junior who took second in the 100 fly (53.20) and third in the 100 back (54.12), Noah Krueger, a sophomore who took third in the 200 IM (2:01.23) and the 100 breast (59.73) and Lucas Krueger, a junior who was third in the 200 free (1:46.30) and fourth in the 500 free (4:50.23).
“Those are household names for our team,” Craig said of the trio. “I really enjoy watching them swim and compete. They’re just very reliable and swimmers we know we can always count on. Even though they didn’t swim their best times, they were always upbeat and brought energy to our team and were always cheering on their teammates.”
While Central knew what it was getting with those three, the most pleasant surprise of the meet was Lee, a freshman who significantly out-performed his seed times for fifth-place finishes in the 200 free (1:48.35) and 100 fly (54.03). On top of swimming a leg on both title-winning relays, Lee had a breakout performance.
Other swimmers who scored points at the state meet for Central included Beau Blankenship, James Kang, Ethan Finney, Ryan Crowley and Jackson Ward.
Independent’s Jekov completes legacy, while Collegiate’s Sandid begins one
George Jekov secured his legacy at Independent with two more individual state championships, successfully defending his titles in the 200 free (1:43.55) and 500 free (4:46.85). He finished his career with four individual state titles, a relay title and of course Independent’s first team state title last year.
“He really set the precedent for the Independent swimming program,” coach Kamren Hall said. “They’ve always been a small 2A school, so for them to come out last year and win it was a huge deal. Now that he added to his titles, more kids are going to come out to compete and look up to what he has done here and try to go after his records. He’s left a big legacy.”
Despite entering with the sixth-best seed time, Jekov crushed the field in the 200 free and won the race by nearly three full seconds. He also had the fourth-best seed time in the 500 free, but led for the final five laps to hold off Maize’s Luke Taylor by three-tenths of a second for the title.
“George is just a clutch swimmer,” Hall said. “He’s going to do what he needs to do to win. He has that state experience, so he knows when to take off and when to go and he knows his energy levels. He’s just really good at pacing himself to make sure he has it at the end to get the win.”
Another one of Hall’s swimmer, Collegiate sophomore Adam Sandid, also went home a double winner to complete his rapid ascent as one of the state’s best sprinters. After finishing fifth in both the 50 free and 100 free at state last season, Sandid took home both titles on Saturday with times of 21.30 in the 50 free and 46.73 in the 100 free. Sandid was nearly three-tenths behind the leader on the wall touch, but dominated the final 50 yards to win the race by more than three-tenths.
“He definitely hit that new level, his true form tonight and showed all of his hard work,” Hall said. “It’s just that level of competitive drive he has inside. He just wants to compete. Every practice, every meet, he’s just there to win.”
Both teams also had more standout swimmers, as Independent junior Matthew Janssen took second in the 200 IM (1:58.19) and fourth in the 100 breast (1:00.31), Independent junior Daniel Jekov finished second in the 100 back (53.69) and seventh in the 100 fly (54.66), and Collegiate junior Joseph Gadalla notched fifth in the 200 IM (2:01.95) and seventh in the 100 breast (1:02.11).
Kapaun finishes program-best second behind freshman’s title
The rise of the Kapaun Mt. Carmel boys swimming program hit its peak on Saturday when the Crusaders secured a second place finish in the 5-1A field, the best state finish in program history.
Kapaun was led by freshman Frank Alberti, the breakout star of the meet who announced his arrival to the high school swimming scene in a big way with a state championship in the 100 back (53.55) and a third-place finish in the 500 free (4:49.58). He also swam a leg on Kapaun’s 200 medley relay, which took second, and 400 free relay, which took sixth.
“It’s really impressive for him to already be at this level,” Kapaun coach Hayley Knapp said. “Frank just loves to swim and he loves to work hard. It’s pretty unique to have a kid that likes to do both of those things. He’s just such a positive kid and brings great energy for our team.”
Although Alberti entered with the best seed time in the 100 back, he was nearly two-tenths behind the more experience Daniel Jekov, a junior at Independent, on the turn. But Alberti didn’t panic and ended up winning the race by more a tenth.
“We were nervous watching him at the turn because we didn’t know if he was going to be able to pull it out,” Knapp said. “But Frank really pushed his underwaters and actually popped up ahead of Daniel and ended up out-touching him. He had some great underwaters off the turn and that’s something we’ve had him work on, so it was goo to see him pull that off.”
Other notable scorers for Kapaun were junior Tommy Higgins, who took fourth in the 100 fly (54.00) and fifth in the 100 breast (1:01.14), junior Austin Schmidt, who took fourth in the 200 free (1:46.58) and seventh in the 100 free (49.08), junior Jackson Burrus, who was sixth in the 100 back (56.74) and eighth in the 200 IM (2:03.80), and junior Cooper Burrus, who was fourth in diving.
Other area medalists
Other standout swimmers from the area included Maize junior Luke Taylor, who finished second in the 500 free (4:47.18) and sixth in the 200 IM (2:02.59), Bishop Carroll junior Quade Harris, who took third in the 100 free (48.04) and sixth in the 50 free (22.10), and Maize senior Josh Sprowls, who notched a fifth-place finish in the 100 back (55.46) and sixth-place finish in the 100 fly (54.58).
Other area medalists included Carroll junior Jaxon Trower (fifth in diving), Andover sophomore Jonathan Gott (sixth in 500 free), Andover sophomore Sam Ellis (seventh in 100 back), Andover junior Henry Gott (eighth in 500 free), Andover senior Luc Diefenbach (eighth in 100 breast) and Newton junior Andrew Barron (eighth in 100 back).
Class 5A state swimming and diving
At Shawnee Mission District Aquatic Center
Teams: Andover Central 234½, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 211, Maize South 182, BV Southwest 169, Independent 167, Andover 160, St. James 155, McPherson 114, Collegiate 112, Bishop Carroll 112, Mill Valley 105, Maize 93, Lansing 77, St. Thomas Aquinas 72, Topeka Seaman 44, Newton 39, Salina South 38½, Bishop Seabury 37, Shawnee Heights 28, Buhler 26, Great Bend 24, Emporia 20, KC Piper 16½, Bishop Miege 16, Fort Scott 15, Valley Center 14, Winfield 9½, Salina Central 9, KC Turner 9, Bonner Springs 8, Topeka Hayden 2, El Dorado 2, Smoky Valley 1.
200 medley relay: 1. Andover Central (Damico, N. Krueger, Lee, L. Krueger) 1:38.13; 2. Kapaun (Alberti, Higgins, J. Burrus, Schmidt) 1:38.47; 3. Independent (D. Jekov, Janssen, G. Jekov, Jacobsen) 1:39.47; 4. Maize South (Bowles, Rei. Richardson, Stucky, Bally) 1:41.03; 5. St. James 1:41.36; 6. Andover (Diefenbach, D. Gott, Neugent, Ellis) 1:44.12; 7. Mill Valley 1:44.27; 8. Maize (Sprowls, Johnson, Taylor, Broberg) 1:44.44. 200 free: 1. G. Jekov, Independent, 1:43.55; 2. R. Richardson, Maize South, 1:46.29; 3. L. Krueger, Andover Central, 1:46.30; 4. Schmidt, Kapaun, 1:46.58; 5. Lee, Andover Central, 1:48.35; 6. El-Demerdash, BV Southwest, 1:48.82; 7. Achilles, McPherson, 1:48.93; 8. Specht, BV Southwest, 1:49.66. 200 IM: 1. Amrein, St. James, 1:50.44; 2. Janssen, Independent, 1:58.19; 3. N. Krueger, Andover Central, 2:01.23; 4. Mallot, Aquinas, 2:01.32; 5. Gadalla, Collegiate, 2:01.95; 6. Taylor, Maize, 2:02.59; 7. Perkins, Shawnee Heights, 2:03.17; 8. J. Burrus, Kapaun, 2:03.80. 50 free: 1. Sandid, Collegiate, 21.30; 2. Molinaro, Mill Valley, 21.74; 3. Walker, Lansing, 21.75; 4. Rei. Richardson, Maize South, 21.89; 5. Bowles, Maize South, 21.98; 6. Harris, Carroll, 22.10; 7. Hanahan, BV Southwest, 22.42; 8. Kemmerer, Fort Scott, 22.49. Diving: 1. Higgins, Emporia, 487.7; 2. Hartegan, St. James, 345; 3. Leavey, Miege, 339.5; 4. C. Burrus, Kapaun, 328.55; 5. Trower, Carroll, 326.1; 6. Cl. Webster, Buhler, 316.6; 7. Biggs, Seaman, 316.3; 8. Co. Webster, Buhler, 313.6. 100 fly: 1. Blake, Seabury, 52.28; 2. Damico, Andover Central, 53.2; 3. Perkins, Shawnee Heights, 53.86; 4. Higgins, Kapaun, 54.00; 5. Lee, Andover Central, 54.03; 6. Sprowls, Maize, 54.58; 7. D. Jekov, Independent, 54.66; 8. O’Rourke, Seaman, 54.88. 100 free: 1. Sandid, Collegiate, 46.73; 2. Walker, Lansing, 47.08; 3. Harris, Carroll, 48.04; 4. Rei. Richardson, Maize South, 48.05; 5. Reg. Richardson, Maize South, 48.28; 6. Molinaro, Mill Valley, 48.54; 7. Schmidt, Kapaun, 49.08; 8. Hanahan, BV Southwest, 49.41. 500 free: 1. G. Jekov, Independent, 4:46.85; 2. Taylor, Maize, 4:47.18; 3. Alberti, Kapaun, 4:49.58; 4. L. Krueger, Andover Central, 4:50.23; 5. El-Demerdash, BV Southwest, 4:53.98; 6. J. Gott, Andover, 5:00.22; 7. Specht, BV Southwest, 5:01.04; 8. H. Gott, Andover, 5:04.75. 200 free relay: 1. Maize South (Reg. Richardson, Stucky, Bowles, Rei. Richardson) 1:26.81; 2. BV Southwest 1:30.40; 3. McPherson (Vanderhoof, Wurm, Achilles, Powers) 1:30.56; 4. Mill Valley 1:31.81; 5. Collegiate (Gadalla, Hechenberger, Nolan, Sandid) 1:32.22; 6. Lansing 1:33.04; 7. St. James 1:33.33; 8. Aquinas 1:33.43. 100 back: 1. Alberti, Kapaun, 53.55; 2. D. Jekov, Independent, 53.69; 3. Damico, Andover Central, 54.12; 4. Iselin, Salina South, 54.43; 5. Sprowls, Maize, 55.46; 6. J. Burrus, Kapaun, 56.74; 7. Ellis, Andover, 56.80; 8. Barron, Newton, 56.93. 100 breast: 1. Amrein, St. James, 55.27; 2. Blake, Seabury, 57.57; 3. N. Krueger, Andover Central, 59.73; 4. Janssen, Independent, 1:00.31; 5. Higgins, Kapaun, 1:01.14; 6. Mallot, Aquinas, 1:01.42; 7. Gadalla, Collegiate, 1:02.11; 8. L. Diefenbach, Andover, 1:03.06. 400 free relay: 1. Andover Central (Lee, N. Krueger, Damico, L. Krueger) 3:17.47; 2. Independent (G. Jekov, Jacobsen, D. Jekov, Janssen) 3:18.45; 3. McPherson (Vanderhoof, Wurm, Achilles, Powers) 3:19.49; 4. BV Southwest 3:19.81; 5. Maize South (Bowles, Bally, Stucky, Reg. Richardson) 3:19.89; 6. Kapaun (Alberti, J. Burrus, Higgins, Schmidt) 3:20.56; 7. Andover (J. Gott, I. Diefenbach, L. Diefenbach, Ellis) 3:23.71; 8. Carroll (Eustace, Nolasco, Hilger, Harris) 3:27.45.
This story was originally published February 21, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
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