Dominican High School Snaps St. Joseph’s LHSAA Title Streak, Enzo Solitario Hits 3 DI Records

LHSAA Division I Championships

• November 22-23, 2024
• SPAR Aquatic Center
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Full Results

Girls’ Recap

Dominican High School snapped the St. Joseph’s Academy girls’ win streak at the LHSAA Division I Championships, denying them a 14th straight title. In 2023, St. Joseph’s Academy pulled out the victory by a single point; they didn’t win a single event but all 16 girls entered in the meet scored.

This year, Dominican was an overwhelming presence at the meet and they won with 411.5 points, outscoring St. Joseph’s by 57.

Dominican began as they meant to go on, securing the victory in the opening 200 medley relay as Kendall Jollands (26.42), Kayleigh Jollands (29.47), Haley Valdine (25.42), and Annalise Gagliano (24.37) swam to a Division I record of 1:45.68.

They kept rolling from there, as Valdine gave them two wins in three events by swimming 2:07.51 to win the 200 IM, leading an event where Dominican had three swimmers up in the ‘A’ final. Sophomore Kendall Jollands won two events for Dominican High School, first leading a 1-2-6 finish for the team in the 100 butterfly. She led the way in 55.34 as Valdine took second in 57.37. Jollands won again in the 100 backstroke, swimming 57.25.

Sophomore Terese Vocke earned Dominican’s other individual event win on the day, posting 5:06.18 to touch first in the 500 freestyle. Finally, the team ended the meet the way they began, winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:34.20, touching first by over four seconds.

Mandeville freshman Avery Daigle was particularly impressive at her debut championships. She won two events, first clocking a lifetime best 1:50.81 to win the 200 freestyle. Then, she won the 100 freestyle in another lifetime best, clocking 50.36 to surpass her previous best of 50.61.

Though she skipped the individual 50 freestyle, she led off Mandeville’s 200 freestyle relay in 23.13, which would’ve won the individual event by .65 seconds. The swim knocked a hudredth off Daigle’s lifetime best and is just two-hundredths from the Division I record, which has stood since 2005. Mandeville went on to win the relay, as another freshman, Sydney Eagan, anchored in 23.93 to pull them ahead of Dominican High School, 1:37.91 to 1:38.11.

Other Event Winners:

• 50 freestyle: Andi Clement, Southside — 23.78
• 100 breaststroke: Emma Cate Dobie, Mandeville — 1:04.59

Girls’ Top 10 Final Results

1. Dominican High School — 411.5
2. St. Joseph’s Academy Swimming — 354.5
3. Mount Carmel Academy — 222
4. Northshore High School — 192
5. Mandeville High School — 184
6. St. Amant High School — 145
7. Fontainebleau High School — 105
8. CE Byrd High School — 99
9. Barbe High School — 92
10. Baton Rouge Magnet High School — 74

Boys’ Recap

Catholic High School defended their 2023 state championship, scoring 411 points to outpace Jesuit High School’s 350 points.

Jesuit’s Enzo Solitario highlighted the day, swimming Division I records in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle. A Wisconsin commit, Solitario already owned several Louisiana state and high school state records. He got his day started with the 200 freestyle, swimming a lifetie best of 1:34.18. In the past, Solitario has focused on the sprint freestyles and 100 butterfly at these meets, so this was a bit of a departure for him. He’d broken 1:40 previously, but before hitting 1:37.70 in prelims had never broken 1:39.

He was back up in the 100 freestyle, bettering his Division I record of 44.40 and his state open record of 44.39 with a 43.59. Though he didn’t race the 50 freestyle individually, he once again broke his own Division I record when he led off the 200 freestyle relay. After swimming 20.31 last year, Solitario led off in 20.26, taking five hundredths off his old standard in a time that would have easily won the individual 50 freestyle. Jesuit went on to win the relay in 1:25.33 with freshman Conor Samuels splitting 22.69, senior Luke Balhoff clocking 21.46, and Aidan Villars anchoring in 20.92.

Solitario ended his day anchoring Jesuit’s winning 400 freestyle relay. Balhoff 47.86), Samuels (49.36), Grant Castillon (47.47), and Solitario (44.16) combined for a 3:08.85, crushing the field and winning the final relay by 3.82 seconds.

He wasn’t the only Jesuit High School swimmer to take down a Division record. His teammate Aidan Villars won his second event of the day, the 100 butterfly, in a division record of 48.54. It was his second lifetime best in the event of the meet; in prelims, he clocked a 48.67, breaking 50 seconds for the first time. Earlier in the day, Villars won the 200 IM in a lifetime best 1:51.15.

Catholic High School’s depth powered their state championship, but they also earned two event wins. They won the first event of the day, the 200 medley relay, as Blake Talbert (23.92), Noah Vargas (26.17), Khoa Nguyen (23.96), and Eric Jurkovic (20.70) clocked 1:34.75, beating Jesuit by four-tenths.

Vargas also won the 100 breaststroke for Catholic High School, posting a 57.80 to win by more than a second.

Other Event Winners:

• 50 freestyle: Bryce Naquin, Thibodaux — 20.71
• 500 freestyle: Kayden Hendrick, Mandeville — 4:33.19
• 100 backstroke: Josiah Dang, Parkway — 50.26

Boys’ Top 10 Final Results

1. Catholic High School — 411
2. Jesuit High School — 350
3. Baton Rouge Magnet High School — 189
4. St. Pauls School — 186
5. Northshore High School — 146
6. Thibodaux High School — 109
7. Mandeville High School — 100
8. Destrehan High School — 99
9. Brother Martin High School — 89
10. Fontainebleau High School — 82