The buzz of anticipation was shared between swimmers, parents, coaches and even in the water of the Hummer Sports complex natatorium.
The boys’ 5-1A Kansas high school swimming finals took to the pool Saturday morning; it was a day that Bishop Carroll’s swim team will want to cherish.
“We had a great season…and you really can’t ask for more than that,” Bishop Carroll head swim coach Andrea Ellsworth said.
Bishop Carroll finished second on Saturday in the team finals, racking up a final score of 192 points. Blue Valley Stilwell took home the team championship for the second straight season with 291 points and St. James Academy finished third with 179.50 points.
Click here for complete results from Class 5-1A action in Topeka
Ellsworth says while she is proud of her squads effort all season long what she will remember most are the little things that go into each swim season.
“The seniors, I will have such good memories of them…and just riding on the bus and staying at the hotel,” added Ellsworth.
Some other notable local team totals included Newton who finished in sixth place with 143 points, Maize South placed seventh with 130 points and Winfield finished in eighth place with 103 team points. McPherson and Collegiate tied for ninth, with both schools scoring 100 points respectively.
On the individual side of things, Winfield’s Keiser Witte was named the most valuable swimmer during the 5-1A finals. Witte notched an individual score of 40 points on Saturday, placing first in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 50-yard freestyle.
Another local highlight was 100-yard breaststroke event where three different swimmers from local schools placed first, second and third. Independent’s Andrew Parker placed first with a time of 1:02.11; right behind him was Bishop Carroll’s Alec Khoury who finished in second with a time of 1:02.18. Third place went to Greyson Heckman of Maize South who posted a time of 1:04.34.
Parker amassed 36 individual points in the finals, that was fifth most of any swimmer at the meet.
Greyson tacked up 33 points, that mark was tied for seventh place amongst individual swimmers, he tied with Cameron Spreier of Newton. Bryce A. Kampfe of Salina South rounded out the top ten individual swimmers; the senior swimmer had 32 points to his name during Saturday’s final round.
A state record was literally fingertips away for Chris Hearl of Blue Valley Stilwell in the 100-yard backstroke event. He won the event with a time of 50.30 seconds, just short of the 5-1A record set back in 2006 by Newton’s David Winter who posted a time of 50.28 seconds.
Click here to see video of Blue Valley celebrating their state championship.
