By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seaman's pre-meet goal was to post a top-five team finish in Saturday's Class 5A-1A state swimming championships at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
Mission accomplished.
Freshman twin sisters Avery and Tauren Walz and junior Gabby Grace turned in strong individual performances to put Seaman in position to reach their goal and then teamed up with junior Bailey Meggison to place fifth in the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay and finish fifth in the team standings by six points.
Seaman freshman Avery Walz placed second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 200 individual medley in Saturday's Class 5A-1A state swimming meet, helping lead the Vikings to a fifth-place team finish. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
"We saw before the 400 free that we were in sixth, and we just said, 'We got this. We're going to do so good on this relay,' " Grace said.
Seaman was locked in a three-team battle with Andover and St. Thomas Aquinas for the fifth-place spot and came through with a season-best time of 3 minutes, 53.49 seconds to take fifth by a 141-135 margin over Andover.
Tauren Walz led off the relay, followed by Meggison, Grace and Avery Walz.
"We were back there pumping each other up, saying, 'We got this,' " Tauren Walz said. "We just wanted to have fun and we knew we'd do really well. It was really fun."
The Vikings' performance in the final relay finished off a big day for Seaman, which placed Avery and Tauren Walz on the All-State first team and Grace on the second team.
Avery Walz finished second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.79 in a season-best performance and finished third in the 200 individual medley in 2:11.63.
Tauren Walz finished fourth in the 200 individual medley in 2:15.10..
"It was so fun, just a blast," Avery Walz said. "I think I exceeded my expectations and I was just so happy with how I did."
Tauren Walz added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle in 5:24.02, a huge personal-best.
"My first half was really, really good, but my last 200 could have been a little better," Tauren said. "The last 100 I knew I was so close and I was right there, but it was close and that was OK."
Grace posted personal-bests in both her events, taking seventh in the 100 freestyle (55.43) and fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.53).
"I life-time PRed in both of them so that was really good," Grace said. "I was really happy with today."
The Walz sisters, Grace and senior Jordan Riggles also earned state medals in the 200 medley relay, finishing eighth in 1:56.81.
RURAL'S BARE EARNS PAIR OF 6A MEDALS
Washburn Rural's Mara Bare enjoyed the best day of her sophomore season in Friday's Class 6A state swimming championships, taking home a pair of state medals with top-five finishes..
Bare easily eclipsed her previous personal best in the 200-yard freestyle en route to a fourth-place finish in 1:58.52.
Bare, who received second-team All-State recognition, earned her second medal with a fifth-place showing in the 500 freestyle in 5:21.53.
CLASS 5-1A STATE SWIMMING
Team scores
Bishop Carroll 282, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 237, St. James Academy 162, Mill Valley 147, Seaman 141, Andover 135, St. Thomas Aquinas 128, Maize 120, McPherson 118, Blue Valley Southwest 117, Wichita Trinity 85, Topeka West 84, Salina Central 74, Winfield 53, Valley Center 52.5, Piper 47.5, Labette County 38, Wichita Independent 37, De Soto 33, Baldwin 29, Newton 28, Salina South 26, Wichita Collegiate 23, Emporia 17, Great Bend 15, Maize South 15, Bishop Miege 13, Andover Central 7, Lansing 5, Smoky Valley 5, Leavenworth 4, Wellington 4, Coffeyville 3, Buhler 1, Bishop Seabury 1.
Individual results
200 medley relay -- 1. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (Le, Conover, Valentas, Turner), 1:51.38; 2. Bishop Carroll (Bailey, Winter, Clark, Biby), 1:51.85; 3. (tie) St. James Academy (Grant, Salsbury, Clark, Spacek) and Mill Valley (Han. Evans, Hal, Evans, Hansen, Rhodes), 1:54.38; 5. Salina Central (Burmaster, Jennings, Peckham, Moore), 1:55.25; 6. Andover (Dean, Mandanis, Neugent, Bayliff), 1:56.13; 7. Blue Valley Southwest (Currier, J. Heise, Baber, A. Heise), 1:56.40; 8. Seaman (Riggles, A. Walz, T. Walz, Grace), 1:56.81.
200 freestyle -- 1. Jeffries, Topeka West, 1:53.08; 2. Reynaga, Bishop Carroll, 1:56.59; 3. Hansen, Mill Valley, 1:59.28; 4. Bailey, Bishop Carroll, 2:00.87; 5. Orth, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 2:01.22; 6. Moore, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 2:01.22; 7. Spacek, St. James Academy, 2:)5.35; 8. Espinosa, Topeka West, 2:05.58.
200 individual medley -- 1. Conover, Kapaun Mt. Carmbel, 2:04.76; 2. Winter, Bishop Carroll, 2:07.88; 3. Avery Walz, Seaman, 2:11.63; 4. Tauren Walz, Seaman, 2:15.10; 5. Kerr, Baldwin, 2:15.11; 6. Clark, Bishop Carroll, 2:19.18; 7. Horton, Newton, 2:19.69; 8. Hal. Evans, Mill Valley, 2:20.03.
50 freestyle -- 1. Neugent, Andover, 23.87; 2. Brunk, McPherson, 24.00; 3. Baber, Blue Valley Southwest, 24.28; 4. Hesser, St. Thomas Aquinas, 24.42; 5. Blasdel, Maize, 24.55; 6. Grace, Wichita Collegiate, 24.76; 7. Salsbury, St. James Academy, 24.84; 8. Biby, Bishop Carroll, 25.16.
One meter diving -- 1. Lindsey, St. Thomas Aquinas, 386.94; 2. Vincent, Emporia, 346.29; 3. Holton, St. James Academy, 342.99; 4. Kelsey, Salina South, 327.12; 5. Meyer, Kapaun Mt. Carmbel, 321.15; 6. Callahan, St. James Academy, 318.33; 7. Nelson, St. Thomas Aquinas, 303.78; 8. Hakes, Mill Valley, 290.46.
100 butterfly -- 1. Winter, Bishop Carroll, 57.23; 2. N. Clark, Bishop Carroll, 59.77; 3. M. Clark, St. James Academy, 1:00.08; 4. Meister, Labette County, 1:00.30; 5. Martin, Wichita Independent, 1:00.56; 6. Le, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1:02.78; 7. (tie), Milligan, Valley Center and Kindle, Piper, 1:02.82.
100 freestyle -- 1. Neugent, Andover, 52.55; 2. Baber, Blue Valley Southwest, 53.22; 3. Reynaga, Bishop Carroll, 53.29; 4. Hansen, Mill Valley, 53.44; 5. Blasdel, Maize 54.69; 6. Walls Wichita Trinity, 55.26; 7. Grace, Seaman, 55.43; 8 Horton, Newton, 55.67.
500 freestyle -- 1. Jeffries, Topeka West, 5:03.13; 2. R. Bailey, Carroll, 5:23.89; 3. Tauren Walz, Seaman, 5:24.02; 4. Orth, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 5:26.90; 5. Isom, Winfield, 5:28.53; 6. A. Bailey, Bishop Carroll, 5:34.15; 7. Sprowls, Maize, 5:35.06; 8. Espinosa, Topeka West, 5:36.36.
200 freestyle relay -- 1. Bishop Carroll (Biby, Means, Clark, Reynaga), 1:40.93; 2. Andover (Bayliff, Mandanis, McClellan, Neugent), 1:42.98; 3. McPherson (Smith, Trost, Pearcy, Brunk), 1:43.09; 4. Maize (Wunsch, Will-Gallegos, I. Blasdel, B. Blasdel), 1:43.52; 5. Wichita Trinity (Butcher, Bennett, McClintock, Walls), 1:44.61; 6. St. Thomas Aquinas (Dahir, Ellwanger, L. Hesser, A. Hesser), 1:45.04; 7. Mill Valley (Rhodes, Hal. Evans, Drummond, Hansen), 1:45.16; 8. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (Turner, Gipson, Valentas, Orth), 1:45.39.
100 backstroke -- 1. Meister, Labette County, 57.17; 2. Brunk, McPherson, 58.77; 3. Martin, Wichita Independent, 1:00.39; 4. Grace, Seaman, 1:00.53; 5. Le, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1:00.70; 6. Kuta, Hayden, 1:01.89; 7. Burmaster, Salina Central, 1:02.06; 8. Amphone, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1:03.46.
100 breaststroke -- 1. Conover, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, 1:03.709; 2. Avery. Walz, Seaman, 1:05.79; 3. Salsbury, St. James Academy, 1:09.68; 4. Kerr, Baldwin, 1:10.15; 5. Ha. Evans, Mill Valley, 1:10.59; 6. Heise, Blue Valley Southwest, 1:10.67; 7. Rhodes, Mill Valley, 1:11.79; 8. Hanson, Piper, 1:14.23.
400 freestyle relay -- 1. Bishop Carroll (Reynaga, A. Bailey, R. Bailey, Winter), 3:39.79; 2. Kapaun Mt. Carmel (Turner, Le, Orth, Conover), 3:42.27; 3. McPherson (Whorton, Trost, Pearcy, Brunk), 3:48.70; 4. Blue Valley Southwest (Heise, Hill, Hunter, Baber), 3:50.65; 5. Seaman (Tauren Walz, Meggison, Grace, Avery Walz), 3:53.49; 6. Maize (Wunsch, Sprowls, Will-Gallegos, B. Blasdel), 3:54.71; 7. St. James Academy (Spacek, Grant, Clark, Salsbury), 3:56.38; 8. Wichita Trinity (McClintock, Bennett, McDaniel, Walls), 3:57.03.
CLASS 5A-1A ALL-STATE
First team
Presley Baber, Blue Valley Southwest; Rachel Bailey, Bishop Carroll; Danica Brunk, McPherson; Claire Conover, Kapaun; Ella Hansen, Mill Valley; Kadence Jeffries, Topeka West; Piper Lindsey, St. Thomas Aquinas; Sidni Meister, Labette County; Natlie Neugent, Andover; Karis Raynaga, Bishop Carroll; Avery Walz, Seaman;Tauren Walz, Seaman; Zoe Winter, Bishop Carroll.
Second team
Brooklyn Blasdel, Maize; MaryBeth Clark, St. James Academy; Nataliee Clark, Bishop Carroll; Blanca Espinosa, Topeka West; Halee Evans, Mill Valley; Gabby Grace, Seaman; Madison Horton, Newton; Olivia Kerr, Baldwin; Sydney Le, Kapaun Mt. Carmbel; Grace Martin, Wichita Independent; Emma Moore, Winfield; Olivia Orth, Kapaun Mt. Carmel; Reagan Salsbury, St. James Academy; Cadance Vincent, Emporia; Megan Walls, Wichita Trinity.
Athlete of the meet -- Claire Conover, Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
Coach of the year -- David Bresser, Lansing/Basehor-Linwood.
CLASS 6A STATE SWIMMING
Team scores
Blue Valley West 375, Shawnee Mission East 230, Lawrence 228, Blue Valley North 178, Wichita East 164, Blue Valley 153, Blue Valley Northwest 152, Free State 148, Manhattan 106, Shawnee Mission South 100, Washburn Rural 60, Olathe East 57, Olathe North 55, Derby 49, Olathe West 47, Wichita Heights 43, Olathe Northwest 40, Shawnee Mission Northwest 38, Campus 26, Wichita Northwest 24, Olathe South 23, Garden City 18, Wichita North 8, Shawnee Mission West 3.
Individual results
200 medley relay -- 1. Blue Valley West (Vietti, Finzen, Wombolt, Barnes), 1:46.90; 2. Shawnee Mission East (Malik, Deedy, Linscott, Benjamin), 1:46.99; 3. Lawrence (Sherron, Manolescu, Fischer, Heckman), 1:53.88; 4. Free State (Hindman, Khosh, Engelbrecht, Liu), 1:54.09; 5. Blue Valley North (Smith, Stewart, Blake, Plunkett), 1:54.49; 6. Manhattan (Francois, Perez, Steffensmeier, Hicks), 1:55.06; 7. Shawnee Mission South (Schmierer Knust, Rood, Krussow, Ohlde), 1:57.21; 8. Olathe East (Brock, Johnson, Garst, Rose), 1:57.41.
200 freestyle -- 1. Braden, Lawrence, 1:57.96; 2. Orr, Blue Valley West, 1:58.15; 3. Schmidt, Blue Valley, 1:58.29; 4. Bare, Washburn Rural, 1:58.52; 5. Jones, Wichita East, 2:01.47; 6. Roberts, Campus, 2:01.58; 7. Fiocati, Blue Valley Northwest, 2:02.82; 8. Gunderman, Shawnee Mission East, 2:03.51.
200 individual medley -- 1. Barnes, Blue Valley West, 2:03.97; 2. Deedy, Shawnee Mission East, 2:04.72; 3. Linscott, Shawnee Mission East, 2:08.49; 4. Paduano, Blue Valley Northwest, 2:10.36; 5. Wombolt, Blue Valley West, 2:14.43; 6. Perez, Manhattan, 2:16.03; 7. Jones, Lawrence, 2:16.16; 8. Pelhemus, Blue Valley West, 2:17.44.
50 freestyle -- 1. Dirkzwager, Wichita East, 23.72; 2. Blake, Blue Valley North, 24.13; 3. McPherson, Wichita East, 24.45; 4. Heckman, Lawrence, 24.74; 5. Riley, Shawnee Mission South, 25.16; 6. McDowell, Wichita Northwest, 25.42; 7. Snyder, Blue Valley, 25.55; 8. Beckley, Blue Valley West, 25.74.
One meter diving -- 1. Bridges, Blue Valley, 355.56; 2. Stanley, Olathe North, 350.73; 3. Nuss, Blue Valley North, 346.95; 4. Lawler, Blue Valley West, 344.16; 5. Kierl, Wichita Heights, 341.85; 6. Garrelts, Blue Valley Northwest, 328.26; 7. Scott, Shawnee Mission East, 319.05; 8. Sander, Blue Valley Northwest, 314.79
100 butterfly -- 1. Finzen, Blue Valley West, 55.78; 2. Hindman, Free State, 57.84; 3. Fischer, Lawrence, 58.36; 4. Broadrick, Wichita Heights, 59.24; 5. Engelbrecht, Free State, 59.33; 6. Steffensmeier, Manhattan, 59.37; 7. McPherson, Wichita East, 59.77; 8. Wombolt, Blue Valley West, 1:00.48.
100 freestyle -- 1. Dirkzwager, Wichita East, 51.52; 2. Blake, Blue Valley North, 53.82; 3. Orr, Blue Valley West, 54.56; 4. Riley, Shawnee Mission South, 55.18; 5. Heckman, Lawrence, 55.67; 6. Snyder, Blue Valley, 56.24; 7. Beckley, Blue Valley West, 56.28; 8. Malik, Shawnee Mission East, 56.42.
500 freestyle -- 1. Barnes, Blue Valley West, 4:55.66; 2. Vietti, Blue Valley West, 5:16.92; 3. Schmidt, Blue Valley, 5:27.25; 4. Braden, Lawrence, 5:20.51; 5. Bare, Washburn Rural, 5:21.53; 6. Steffensmeier, Manhattan, 5:24.43; 7. Gifford, Blue Valley West, 5:29.25; 8. Sherlock, Blue Valley, 5:32.78.
200 freestyle relay -- 1. Wichita East (McPherson, Randle, Jones, Dirkzweger), 1:38.79; 2. Blue Valley North (Blake, Smith, Plunkett, Patterson), 1:41.72; 3. Blue Valley Northwest (Paduano, Loarco, Fiocati, Willenbring), 1:42.02; 4. Lawrence (Heckman, Derby, Jones, Braden), 1:42.12; 5. Blue Valley West (Beckley, Polheumus, Ahmed, Orr), 1:42.15; 6. Shawnee Mission South (Ohlde, Buss, Krussow, Riley), 1:43.35; 7. Blue Valley (Schmidt, Sherlock, Sherlock, Snyder), 1:45.46; 8. Shawnee Mission East (Kostner, L. Kostner, Rogler, Gunderman), 1:46.62.
100 backstroke -- 1. Finzen, Blue Valley West, 56.00; 2. Paduano, Blue Valley Northwest, 57.00; 3. Hindman, Free State, 58.56; 4. Fischer, Lawrence, 59.59; 5. Engelbrecht, Free State, 1:00.18; 6. Malik, Shawnee Mission East, 1:00.26; 7. Broadrick, Wichita Heights, 1:00.65; 8. Amos, Oalthe West, 1:01.20.
100 breaststroke -- 1. Deedy, Shawnee Mission East, 1:04.88;2. Linscott, Shawnee Mission East, 1:04.93; 3. Polhemus, Blue Valley West, 1:08.52; 4. Perez, Manhattan, 1:08.89; 5. Bush, Olathe South, 1:09.18; 6. Jones, Lawrwence, 1:09.55; 7. Patterson, Blue Valley North, 1:10.76; 8. Johnson, Olathe East, 1:10.85.
400 freestyle relay -- 1.Blue Valley West (Finzen, Wombolt, Orr, Barnes), 3:33.98; 2. Wichita East (Jones, Nguyen, McPherson, Dirkzwager), 3:40.54; 3. Shawnee Mission East (Linscott, Malik, Gunderman, Deedy), 3:41.02; 4. Free State (Engelbrecht, Day, Liu, Hindman), 3:44.61; 5. Lawrence (Braden, Sherron, Jones, Fischer), 3:45.12; 6. Blue Valley Northwest (Fiocati, Willenbring, Cervantes, Paduano), 3:46.89; 7. Blue Valley (Schmidt, Sherlock, Sherlock, Snyder), 3:48.74; 8. Blue Valley North (Smith, Plunkett, Hadel, Patterson), 3:49.25.
CLASS 6A ALL-STATE
First team
Addi Barnes, Blue Valley West; Caroline Blake, Blue Valley North; Carmen Braden, Lawrence; Madeline Bridges, Blue Valley; Anne Deedy, Shawnee Mission East; Ariana Dirkzwager, Wichita East; Annika Finzen, Blue Vallley West; Aubrey Fischer, Lawrence; Lolly Hindman, Free State; Maeve Linscott, Shawnee Mission East; Caroline Orr, Blue Valley West;Sophia Paduano, Blue Valley Northwest; Emma Schmidt, Blue Valley.
Second team
Mara Bare, Washburn Rural; Cindy Broadrick, Wichita Heights; Liza Engelbrecht, Free State; Madi Heckman, Lawrence; Ali Jones, Lawrence; Baylor McPherson, Wichita East; Ruth Perez, Manhattan; Caroline Polhemus, Blue Valley West; Olivia Riley, Shawnee Mission South; Emily Snyder, Blue Valley; Delaney Stanley, Olathe North; Sophia Steffensmeier, Manhattan; Maleigha Vietti, Blue Valley West; Lizzie Wombolt, Blue Valley West.
Athlete of the meet -- Addi Barnes, Blue Valley West
Coach of the year — Jordan Rowlen, Blue Valley West.
