By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Washburn Rural senior stars Brogan Meier and Jack Miranda knew that Saturday was their final chance as high school swimmers to make a big splash in the pool they've grown up in.
Washburn Rural senior Brogan Meier posted first and second individual finishes and second and third-place relay finishes in Saturday's Class 6A state swimming championships. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Washburn Rural senior Jack Miranda helped lead Rural to a tie for third in the team standings, posting an individual state title and a runnerup finish on Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Meier and Miranda went out and took full advantage of that opportunity, capturing their first Class 6A state individual championships and adding a pair of runnerup individual finishes and a second-place relay finish to lead the way as Washburn Rural earned a third-place team trophy in a tie with Centennial League rival Manhattan at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
"We're all really happy,'' Meier said. "I'm so happy to get third and share the trophy with Manhattan, they're like our rival team and if we're going to split it with anyone, that's the team. But at the same time, the competitive part of me is like .2 is the difference between splitting a trophy and owning it all to ourselves. We were that close. We were doing great all across the board.''
"It's super exciting and it's amazing to be able to compete at this level and firsts, seconds, right there, it's awesome,'' Miranda said.
Meier earned Rural's first title of the day with a win in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.41 seconds and a few events later Miranda joined Meier as a state champ with a dominating win in the 500 free in 4 minutes, 43.71 seconds.
"I was in disbelief when I won that,'' Miranda said. "Just the amount of excitement and the feeling you get from being able to take home that gold is just crazy.
"I was in shock. I was not expecting a 4:43 from that. The first 300 was pretty strong and then that last 200 I told myself, 'I'm going to push that last 200 as hard as I can,' and I gave it all I've got and I came out with first place.''
Meier added a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly (51.90) while Miranda was the runnerup in the 200 free (1:44.04) and Meier and Miranda teamed with fellow senior Will Powell and junior Luke Lemke to finish a close second to Blue Valley North in the meet-ending 400 free relay (3:13.16).
"Individually I don't think I could have done any better,'' said Meier, who was fighting through sickness at the state meet. "I think I went out and did the best I could.''
Washburn Rural seniors Brogan Meier (right) and Will Powell both earned four state medals in Saturday's Class 6A state championships at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Meier and Powell also teamed with senior Elijah Leenerts and freshman Daniel Allen to post a third-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:28.22) while Powell added a fourth-place finish in the 100 free (47.99) and a seventh in the 50 free (22.01) and Allen finished seventh in the 500 free (4:56.44).
It all added up to 200 team points and the third-place deadlock with Manhattan, which Rural had topped for the Centennial League championship a week earlier.
Meier and Miranda both earned first-team All-State recognition while Powell was a second-team pick.
Saturday's state meet capped Janson Garman's first season as the Junior Blues' head coach.
'"Our boys swam great,'' said Garman, a former state champ for Seaman. "I'm so proud of them. We talked about when we came into finals today that the main focus was just to race and boy, did they race. They raced their hearts out.
"I know there were some swims where we wished we could have done better today but the majority, which I'm proud of, were great swims, best swims and I couldn't have wrote it up any better.''
Topeka High junior diver Jaxon Cowdin posted a 12th-place state finish Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High junior Jaxon Cowdin finished 12th in one-meter diving with a score of 351.30, accounting for all five of Topeka High's team points.
Shawnee Heights junior Truman Brede won the Class 5A-1A 'B' final in the 100 backstroke on Saturday. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
Seaman's 400-yard free relay team won the 'B' final in the Class 5A-1A state meet Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. [Photo by Seaman Athletics]
Brede, Seaman relay win 5A-1A consolation titles
Shawnee Heights junior Truman Brede captured the 'B' final win in the 100-yard backstroke in the 5A-1A state championships in Saturday's early session while Seaman won the consolation crown in the 400 free relay.
Brede clocked a winning time of 57.33 in the 100 back while the Viking foursome of freshman Kinser Barbosa, junior Jeremiah Moylan, junior Peyton Holmes and senior Jack Pekarek won the 'B' final in the 400 free relay in 3:29.64.
Seaman finished 14th in the 5A-1A team standings with 48 points while Shawnee Heights took 17th with 21 points.
CLASS 6A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Capitol Federal Natatorium
Team scores
Blue Valley North 314, Shawnee Mission East 216, Manhattan 200, Washburn Rural 200, Blue Valley West 148, Olathe East 142, Blue Valley Northwest 131, Maize 118, Shawnee Mission Northwest 117, Shawnee Mission South 89, Wichita Northwest 80, Shawnee Mission North 80, Olathe Northwest 70, Lawrence Free State 68, Derby 46, Wichita Heights 41, Blue Valley 35, Lawrence 30, Olathe West 30, Mill Valley 28, Shawnee Mission West 18, Wichita East 16, Wichita South 15, Junction City 14, Wichita North 14, Wichita Southeast 13, Campus 13, Topeka High 5.
Individual results
200 medley relay -- 1. Blue Valley North (Jack Munro, Ethan Chan, Henry Parisi, Max Masilionis), 1:37.37; 2. Blue Valley Northwest, 1:38.23; 3. Olathe East, 1:38.59; 4. Manhattan, 1:39.16; 5. Shawnee Mission Northwest, 1:39.85; 6. Shawnee Mission East, 1:40.51; 7. Olathe Northwest, 1:41.35.
200 freestyle -- 1. Grady O'Connor, Shawnee Mission South, 1:38.58 (Meet record); 2. Jack Miranda, Washburn Rural, 1:44.04; 3. Zachary Rife, Maize, 1:44.27; 4. Jared Hays, Derby, 1:47.14; 5. Alec Lopez, Blue Valley North, 1:47.75; 6. Hayden Renoux, Olathe West, 1:47.99; 7. Wilson Riekhof, Blue Valley North, 1:48.60; 8. Henry Parisi, Blue Valley North, 2:09.94.
200 individual medley -- 1. Brock Wallace, Wichita Northwest, 1:51.51; 2. Micah Churchill, Blue Valley Northwest, 1:54.17; 3. Kooper Johnson, Maize, 1:57.30; 4. Lincoln Mainelli, Blue Valley, 1:58.92; 5. Max Steffensmeier, Manhattan, 2:00.04; 6. Nathan Weiner, Blue Valley West, 2:00.77; 7. Adam Hagan, Olathe East, 2:02.80.
50 freestyle -- 1. Brogan Meier, Washburn Rural, 21.41; 2. Mariano Palacian, Manhattan, 21.60; 3. Gabe Gavin, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 21.75; 4. Max Cavin, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 21.78; 5. Zak Kohoutek, Shawnee Mission North, 21.79; 6. Jack Munro, Blue Valley North, 21.90; 7. Will Powell, Washburn Rural, 22.01; 8. Jack McClelland, Shawnee Mission East, 22.16.
One meter diving -- 1. Giani Benoit, Wichita Northwest, 455.25; 2. Peter Stechschulte, Shawnee Mission East, 452.25; 3. Ellis Malone, Olathe East, 4-8.15; 4. Max Roh, Mill Valley, 398.45; 5. Isaiah Wilkins, Lawrence Free State, 398.15; 6. Jeremy Johnson, Wichita Southeast, 396.10; 7. Collin Montgomery, Blue Valley West, 393.40; 8. Jack Eaton, Shawnee Mission North, 377.30.
100 butterfly -- 1. Micah Churchill, Blue Valley Northwest, 50.59; 2. Brogan Meier, Washburn Rural, 51.46; 3. John Crosby, Shawnee Mission East, 52.37; 4. Miguel Boira Diaz, Wichita South, 52.52; 5. Ethan Balman, Manhattan, 52.77; 6. Adam Hagan, Olathe East, 53.35; 7. Dawson Bonnell, Lawrence Free State, 53.73; 8. Max Cavin, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 54.10.
100 freestyle -- 1. Grady O'Connor, Shawnee Mission South, 44.99; 2. Mariano Palacian, Manhattan, 47.46; 3. Zachary Rife, Maize, 47.54; 4. Will Powell, Washburn Rural, 47.99; 5. Gabe Cavin, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 48.36; 6. Wilson Riekhof, Blue Valley North, 48.46; 7. Zak Kohoutek, Shawnee Mission North, 48.68; 8. Alec Lopez, Blue Valley North, 48.82.
500 freestyle -- 1. Jack Miranda, Washburn Rural, 4:43.71; 2. Hayden Renoux, Olathe West, 4:49.13; 3. Willow Graves, Manhattan, 4:52.04; 4. Jack McClelland, Shawnee Mission East, 4:53.66; 5. Khasar Chinbat, Blue Valley North, 4:54.76; 6. Kaleb Barker, Wichita East, 4:56.17; 7. Daniel Allen, Washburn Rural, 4:56.44; 8. Jared Hays, Derby, 5:02.68.
200 free relay -- 1. Shawnee Mission East (Peter Stechschulte, John Crosby, Cooper Blair, Jack McClelland), 1:27.31; 2. Blue Valley North, 1:27.60; 3. Washburn Rural, 1:28.22; 4. Shawnee Mission Northwest, 1:28.49; 5. Manhattan, 1:28.52; 6. Maize, 1:29.05; 7. Shawnee Mission South, 1:29.98; 8. Blue Valley West, 1:31.25.
100 backstroke -- 1. Brock Wallace, Wichita Northwest, 50.54; 2. John Christianson, Blue Valley Northwest, 52.10; 3. Jack Munro, Blue Valley North, 52.45; 4. Nathan Weiner, Blue Valley West, 53.26; 5. Lincoln Mainelli, Blue Valley, 54.09; 6. Andrew Martin, Mill Valley, 54.29; 7. Thatcher Schmitz, Wichita Heights, 54.38; 8. Caleb Twyman, Blue Valley North, 54.61.
100 breastroke -- 1. Jack Punswick, Blue Valley West, 58.60; 2. Keifer Yim, Olathe Northwest, 100.89; 3. Connor Golding, Blue Valley North, 1:01.29; 4. Willow Graves, Manhattan, 1:01.88; 5. Creytin Sanner, Junction City, 1:02.04; 6. Kooper Johnson, Maize, 1:02.05; 7. Klein McGraw, Blue Valley North, 1:02.76; 8. Ethan Chan, Blue Valley North, 1:03.08.
400 free relay -- 1. Blue Valley North (Wilson Riekhof, Khasar Chinbat, Alec Lopez, Jack Munro), 3:12.97; 2. Washburn Rural, 3:13.16; 3. Shawnee Mission East, 3:15.70; 4. Manhattan, 3:17.91; 5. Maize, 3:18.23; 6. Blue Valley West, 3:18.98; 7. Shawnee Mission South, 3:19.31; 8. Olathe East, 3:19.95.
CLASS 6A ALL-STATE
First team
Brock Wallace, sr., Wichita Northwest; Grady O'Connor, sr., Shawnee Mission South; Micah Churchill, jr., Blue Valley Northwest; Brogan Meier, sr., Washburn Rural; Jack Miranda, sr., Washburn Rural; Mariano Palacian, sr., Manhattan; Zachary Rife, so., Maize; Willow Graves, jr., Manhattan; Gabe Cavin, jr., Shawnee Mission Northwest; Hayden Renoux, so., Olathe West; Lincoln Mainelli, jr., Blue Valley; Jack Munro, so., Blue Valley North; Kooper Johnson, jr., Maize; Giani Benoit, Wichita Northwest; Jack Punswick, Blue Valley West.
Second team
Nathan Weiner, fr., Blue Valley West; Will Powell, sr., Washburn Rural; Jack McClelland, jr., Shawnee Mission East; Jared Hays, jr., Derby; Zak Kohoutek, jr., Shawnee Mission North; Max Cavin, jr., Shawnee Mission Northwest; John Crosby, sr., Shawnee Mission East; Alec Lopez, sr., Blue Valley North; Wilson Riekhof, jr., Blue Valley North; Adam Hagan, jr., Olathe East; Connor Golding, jr., Blue Valley North; John Christianson, jr., Blue Valley Northwest; Peter Stetschulte, Shawnee Mission East; Kiefer Yim, sr., Olathe Northwest.
