Bryan junior Julia Cook broke a pair of Texas overall and class 5A state records at the 5A state championships Saturday. Austin’s Grant Reed and Brenham’s Hudson Smith each broke a pair of class 5A records as Dallas Highland Park won the boys title and Magnolia the girls.
Boys Meet
Dallas Highland Park won a state title on a true team effort, earning just one event win en route to a 17-point team victory. That title came from junior Felix Van Cauwelaert, who was 4:30.15 to take the 500 freestyle by just about a second and a half.
Austin senior Grant Reed and Brenham senior Hudson Smith were the individual stars, each breaking two individual state records. Reed took the 200 free early in the meet, going 1:37.19 to win by almost a second over Van Cauwelaert and break the class 5A record he set in prelims by more than half a second. One event later, Smith would answer back with a 1:48.68 win in the 200 IM. That crushed the field by 3.6 seconds and took three tenths off a state record that had stood since 2013.
After the diving break, Reed broke his second record, going 44.78 to win the 100 free and take over a record set by last year’s champ Owen Upchurch. And at the very end of the meet, Smith won the 100 breaststroke in 55.67, also breaking a state record he set last year by three tenths.
Junior Peter Simmons was impressive for CS A&M Consolidated, winning three state titles. Simmons swam fly on the state title winning 200 medley relay, splitting a field-best 22.28 to join Andrew Zhang (23.78 back), Tobais Doerr-Garcia (27.65 breast) and James Rude (21.67) to go 1:35.38. Simmons would go on to win the 100 fly in 50.20 and the 100 back in 49.97.
Top 5 Teams:
- Dallas Highland Park – 175
- Grapevine – 158
- Tomball Memorial – 153.5
- CS A&M Consolidated – 149
- Frisco – 143.5
Girls Meet
Magnolia won the girls title by a wide margin, moving up from a 4th-place finish last year. Joy Field was the big point-scorer, winning three of the meet’s last five girls events.
Field kicked off that run with a 4:45.76 win in the 500 free. One event later, she anchored the state championship 200 free relay with a 23.51, joining Olivia Gonder (24.96 leadoff), Dove Niccum (25.13) and Kiley Moriarty (24.66) to go 1:38.26. Field brought the team back from third place, passing Bryan and Humble Kingwood Park.
Then to close the meet, Field (51.20) joined Moriarty (53.49 leadoff), Niccum (54.13) and Caitlin Clements (a field-best 50.45) to win the 400 free relay in 3:29.27.
Individually, the star of the meet was Bryan junior Julia Cook, who broke two state records. Cook went 22.32 to win the 50 free, resetting her own Texas state and class 5A records. Cook was 22.49 to first break the records in prelims Friday, then chopped another tenth off at finals. Cook also went 48.44 to break the state and 5A 100 free records, once again taking a tenth off her records from prelims.
Additionally, Cook led off the 200 medley relay in 24.33 on backstroke, crushing the field on that split. Bryan ended up second in that event.
The girls of Frisco, last year’s team state champs, broke the 5A record in the 200 medley relay to open the meet. Abby Lin (28.35 back), Jadyn Jannasch (28.69 breast), Emily Lenihan (24.29 fly) and Courtney Nelson (24.42) went 1:45.75, breaking their prelims record of 1:47.00 by a huge margin.
Denison’s Lindsay Looney was another individual standout, going 2:01.70 to win the 200 IM and 54.41 to break the 5A state record in the 100 butterfly.
Top 5 Teams:
- Magnolia – 244
- San Antonio Alamo Heights – 162
- Frisco – 147
- Humble Kingwood Park – 143
- Frisco Wakeland – 134
What about 6A final, very fast
6A finals were fast but Julia set overall Texas records in convincing fashion which was well worth separate mention