By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
The rebuilding of the Washburn Rural boys swim team took another step Thursday as it placed second in the Centennial League Championship at Capitol Federal Natatorium.
A loaded Manhattan team ran away with all three relays and eight of nine individual events to rack up 500 points. Washburn Rural finished second with 425.
Topeka High senior Jaxon Cowdin won his third straight Centennial League diving title Thursday, the lone city champion. [Photo by Brent Maycock/KSHSAA Covered]
The lone gold medal claimed by anyone not from Manhattan came in the one-meter diving competition, won by Topeka High senior Jaxon Cowdin.
Cowdin dominated Thursday's competition en route to a 428.75-299.50 victory over teammate Roland Weaver, with the Topeka High standout adding a third straight Centennial League title to his four city championships.
"I think it's a cool thing for Topeka High School history,'' Cowdin said of Thursday's accomplishment. "I think I've done something that very few people can say they've done, so I have a lot of pride in that.''
Last year’s Washburn Rural team, which placed third in in Class 6A, was dominated by seniors. The team is rebuilding this season, with a number of freshmen and sophomores swimming in key positions.
“We put people into events they’d never been in before, hoping to find some slots where we could beat (Manhattan),” Washburn Rural coach Bob Burdick said. “But they had a really good night tonight, and (Manhattan coach Alex Brown) had some time drops that even he didn’t expect. So, they took away some of those points. They ended up beating us by 75, which is sort of like a touchdown and a field goal.
“But I’m OK with this, second place this year. It was good experience, and we had an opportunity to build for next year.”
Washburn Rural senior Luke Lemke finished second in four events in Thursday's Centennial League swimming meet, helping Rural post a runnerup team finish. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Sophomore Andres Morao-Jaspe helped lead Washburn Rural to a runnerup team finish in the Centennial League meet. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Castle Wallace finished second in the 100 breaststroke for Centennial League runnerup Washburn Rural. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
While no Washburn Rural swimmers took home gold medals, they claimed several silvers. Luke Lemke led the Junior Blues by taking second in the 200 yard individual medley and the 100 yard backstroke. He also anchored two Washburn Rural relay teams that took second. Andres Morao-Jaspe took second in the 500 yard freestyle. Castle Wallace placed second in the 100 yard breaststroke.
Topeka High's Dawson Blankenship posted a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in Thursday's Centennial League meet. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Topeka High’s Dawson Blankenship took second in the 100 yard butterfly.
Washburn Rural has qualified just one senior – Lemke – for individual events at the state meet. It has also qualified sophomore Morao-Jaspe and freshmen Wallace and Thomas Appuhn. Additionally, several seniors will swim on the relay teams that Washburn Rural sends to state.
“This was really powerful that we’ve come so far as a team,” Lemke said. “I was quite scared going into this year because we lost all of our heavy hitters. We pulled through and I’m extremely proud of all my men.”
CENTENNIAL LEAGUE SWIMMING/DIVING
TEAM SCORES
Manhattan 500, Washburn Rural 425, Junction City 282, Topeka High 260.5, Emporia High 229.5, Hayden 179.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
200 medley relay — 1. Manhattan (Steffensmeier, Graves, Balman, Kohl), 1:39.12; 2. Washburn Rural (Appuhn, Wallace, Morao-Jaspe, Lemke), 1:46.80; 3. Junction City (Velarde, Fortner, Doan, Bockman), 1:51.32.
200 freestyle — 1. Wymer, Manhattan, 1:51.95; 2. Dunn, Manhattan, 1:55.18; 3. Goss, Manhattan, 2:01.81.
200 individual medley — 1. Steffensmeier, Manhattan, 1:59.52; 2. Lemke, Washburn Rural, 2:06.55; 3. Morao-Jaspe, Washburn , 2:06.52.
50 freestyle — 1. Balman, Manhattan, 22.12; 2. Kohl, Manhattan, 23.06; 3. Woydziak, Emporia, 23.24.
One-meter diving — 1. Cowdin, Topeka High, 428.75; 2. Weaver, Topeka High, 299.50; 3. Kruger, Emporia, 278.90.
100 butterfly — 1. Balman, Manhattan, 52.87; 2. Blankenship, Topeka High, 57.37; 3. Carson, Hayden, 1:01.40.
100 freestyle — 1. Wymer, Manhattan, 50.93; 2. Kohl, Manhattan, 52.39; 3. Woydziak, Emporia, 53.33.
500 freestyle — 1. Graves, Manhattan, 5:00.71; 2. Morao-Jaspe, Washburn Rural, 5:09.00; 3. Dunn, Manhattan, 5:09.37.
200 freestyle relay — 1. Manhattan (Kinsinger, Kohl, Wymer, Balman), 1:33.43; 2. Topeka High (Stewart, Toland, Cowdin, Blankenship), 1:39.62; 3. Washburn Rural (Jeffries, Andrews, Jensen, Wallace), 1:40.33.
100 backstroke — 1. Steffensmeier, Manhattan, 55.23; 2. Lemke, Washburn Rural, 57.67; 3. Appuhn, Washburn Rural, 58.70.
100 breaststroke — 1. Graves, Manhattan, 1:01.92; 2. Wallace, Washburn Rural, 1:05.59; 3. Fortner, Junction City, 1:05.89.
400 freestyle relay — 1. Manhattan (Wymer, Dunn, Steffensmeier, Graves), 3:27.75; 2. Washburn Rural (Appuhn, Jensen, Morao-Jaspe, Lemke), 3:31.47; 3. Manhattan (Goss, Bunger, Pfannenstiel, Bissel), 3:48.40.
