WICHITA, Kan.—
The Independent School swim team headed out to Topeka last Friday and Saturday to compete in the 5-1A state meet. Although the Panthers as a team did not place highly, the individuals of the team had solid performances across the board.Senior and captain Andrew Parker had an exceptionally successful state run, as he took the individual championship title in the 100-yard breastroke, beating out Alex Khoury of Bishop Carroll by .07 seconds. He also took third place in the 200-yard IM.
Going into the meet, Parker was seeded 10th in breast. Although that changed later on, when he was seeded first going into the finals, Parker’s drive to finish out the season strong eventually earned him the first place title.
“Throughout the entire season, I wasn't swimming as fast as I know I could,” said Parker. “However, at State, I shattered even my wildest expectations.”
As for the other varsity swimmers who attended the state meet, junior William McCandless placed fourth in the 200 IM and 14th in the 100 breast. The team’s 200-yard medley relay finished 13th.
“Our team had to battle through losing some big contributors from last year and other adversities,” said Parker. “We swam well, but ran into some tough competition at state.”
“I am proud of what we accomplished,” concluded Parker.
