It seemed like each event that took place at the boys’ 6A state swimming finals had some sort of impact from a Wichita-area school.
In fact, that tone of the meet was set on the very first event of the afternoon at the Hummer Sports Complex natatorium in Topeka.
The Maize 200-yard medley relay team made history right off the bat by posting a winning time of 1:35.16. The mark beat out the past state record posted by Shawnee Mission East in 2008 with a time of 1:35.89. Mitchell Wagner, Christopher Clemons, Gavin Olson and Lucas Popp helped make the new state record time possible for Maize. Wichita East took second with a time of 1:37.69.
Maize would finish fourth in the team standings with 196 total team points, while Wichita East finished in third.
Click here for complete results from Class 6A action in Topeka.
The school had individual help from Lucas Popp, who finished first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. Maize’s Mitchell Wagner grabbed gold in the 100-yard backstroke event. Popp finished tied for first amongst individual swimmers with 40 points to his name and Wagner tied for fourth place in the individual section with 36 points tallied up on the afternoon.
The Wichita East squad ended up topping Maize by one spot in the team portion of the 6A finals, racking up a team score of 260 points.
The 6A state crown went to Shawnee Mission East with 337 points. The Lancers are no stranger to success, as they have claimed six out of the last eight boys’ 6A state swimming championships. Blue Valley North finished in second place with 272.50 points.
After a shaky showing in prelims on Friday, Wichita East was on the mark Saturday, much to the relief of head coach Joe Hutchinson.
“I was worried they would have some finals blues,” Hutchinson said. “But we really stepped up today."
Wichita East finished second in the 200-yard medley relay and junior Jake Spitz landed gold for the Aces in both the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard butterfly. Spitz tied Lucas Popp with 40 points in the overall individual swimmer tally. East’s Nate Pirner took home first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.20 seconds, and finished fourth in the 200 IM. Brandon Shinsato hit the wall in seventh, while Clemons of Maize finished in sixth.
There appears to be no downtime for the East high boys swim team as the Aces roster is filled with talented underclassmen that will be back in the water next season. Their coach is already looking for a strong trip back to Topeka this time next year.
“We will be back next season,” Hutchinson added.
The 200-yard Freestyle Relay was won by Shawnee Mission East in a time of 1:27.46, while Wichita East took sixth with a 1:32.56. Hutchinson hit the wall in eighth with a 1:33.67. East was led by Matthew Clough, Andrew Sousa, Kevin Kilgour & brandon Vandeventer. Hutch was led by Matt McKenna, Adam Ferguson, Max Steward & Eric Mullins.
The third & final relay was the 400-yard Freestyle Relay, which was again won by Shawnee Mission East in 3:11.08. This time however, it was much closer. Maize, with Olson, Clemons, Wagner & Popp hit the wall only .81 seconds after for a 3:11.89. East finished in fourth with a 3:14.99, thanks to Spitz, Brandon Shinsato, Charlie King & Pirner.
Wichita Heights was represented on the medal stand thanks to Kyle Cullinan, who took third in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:45.02, and a fifth place finish in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:50.41. Charlie King of East competed in the same two events, and finished in fourth in the 500 with a 4:50.93, and a sixth in the 200 with a 1:47.79.
In the 100-yard Freestyle, besides the gold for Popp, Erik Russell of Derby finished in fifth with a time of 48.31.
Russell was also in the finals of the 100-yard backstroke, and finished with a time of 53.61, good for fifth, while Shinsato of East finished in second with a 52.91, after Wagner of Maize.
The most valuable swimmer of the 6A finals actually went to an athlete who did not even compete on Saturday. Olathe Northwest diver Clark Thomas won his fourth 6A diving title on Friday and is headed to the Olympic trials before joining the dive team at the University of Missouri.
