2025 KSHSAA 5-1A State Championships
- May 22nd – May 24th
- Diving Prelims May 22nd
- Swimming Prelims May 23rd
- Swimming & Diving Finals May 24th
- 25 Yards Format (SCY)
- Topeka Capitol Federal Natatorium
- Topeka, KS
- Meet Central
- Full Meet Schedule
- Full Results
Andover High School won its second-ever Kansas High School Girl’s 5-1A state team title on Saturday, topping the podium for the first time since 2022.
Andover started off its campaign towards its first state title since 2022 with a victory and KSHSAA 5-1A State Title in the 200 medley relay. The team of Mari Griffin (26.39), Kiersten Elliott (29.44), Sophia Mandanis (26.40), Hollyn Griffin (23.86) posted a 1:46.09, taking over a second off of the former mark set in 2017 by Shawnee Mission-Bishop Miege (1:47.16).
Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest’s Willow Weninger, junior and multi-sport athlete, successfully defended her 2024 state titles in the 200 freestyle with a 1:51.51, a lifetime best by nearly a second, and the 500 freestyle with a 5:04.97, slightly off her best time of 5:03.63 from 2024’s edition of the KSHSAA 5-1A State Championships. Weninger, a junior, is not currently planning on swimming in college though will continue her athletic career as a member of Georgia Tech’s volleyball team, per a November 2024 Instagram post.
Representing Wichita-Trinity Academy, Aleca Howard, who will swim at Missouri State University in the fall, won the 200 IM in 2:03.50, slightly off her lifetime best of 2:03.09 from March. Mari Griffin, state champion by way of the 200 medley relay, placed 2nd in 2:03.64, also slightly off her best time of 2:03.00 also from March. Despite the narrow margin, Howard’s victory came due to a far more aggressive butterfly split and a narrowly-better freestyle split than Griffin’s. Griffin, for her part, out-split Howard on the middle 100. At the 150-yard turn towards freestyle, Griffin led the field with a 1:34.08 to Howard’s 1:34.10. Howard posted a 29.40 to Griffin’s 29.56 on the freestyle to secure the victory. Howard later placed 2nd in the 100 freestyle in 51.92.
Hillsboro High School, which tied for 8th in the team standings, was carried largely by Lauryn Vogt who captured two state titles, the 50 and the 100 freestyle, setting a KSHSAA 5-1A State Record in the former in 23.39, eclipsing her own previous record set in prelims (23.57) by 0.18 which was itself a massive improvement on her 2024 5-1A State Record of 23.77 which tied the previous mark set in 1998 by Winfield’s Kathy Echiverri. Vogt also won the 100 freestyle in 50.28 after going a 50.94 in prelims. Prior to the meet Vogt’s best time in the 100 freestyle stood at 51.77 from March of this year. Vogt, a junior, is verbally committed to swim at the University of Kansas beginning in fall of 2026.
Mandanis, meanwhile, took on the short-axis double in 2025 to place second in the 100 fly in 58.33, just off her 2024 time, and third in the 100 breast in 1:07.11. Mandanis will continue her swimming career at Trinity University in Texas in the fall.
The 100 Butterfly was won by Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest sophomore Ashlyn Bolyard in 55.54, nearly three seconds ahead of runner-up Mandanis of Andover. Bolyard was also the silver medalist in the 100 backstroke in 56.04, a huge improvement on her 4th-place finish from 2024 where she posted a 58.50. Andover’s Mari Griffin crushed the State Record in the the 100 backstroke with a 54.88, exactly one second ahead of her prelims time and 0.27 ahead of the 2016 mark (55.15) set by Bishop Miege’s Cailey Grunhard. Griffin will begin her NCAA career as a member of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in the fall.
Andover’s Kiersten Elliott, won the 100 breaststroke in a commanding 1:04.75. Despite Elliott’s 1.52-second margin of victory, 2004 Olympian Caroline Bruce formerly of Wichita Trinity Academy maintains the 5-1A State Record set in 2004, shortly before the Olympic Trials where she punched her ticket to Athens with a 1:01.03.
Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest won the 200 freestyle relay in a 1:38.53. The team of Ashlyn Bolyard (23.82), Sophia Sponseller (24.81), Molly Hartweger (26.35), and Willow Weninger (23.55) eclipsed the 2023 State Record set by Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest, a team that also included Weninger. Of note, Lansing High School also eclipsed the 2023 record time with a 1:39.12, which was exactly five seconds ahead of the bronze medalists from Andover, which claimed victory in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Andover’s team of Mandanis (54.34), H. Griffin (53.62), Elliott (54.77), and M. Griffin (51.26) posted a 3:33.99 to win the 400 freestyle relay, just 0.06 off the State Record set by Wichita-Trinity Academy in 2007. This victory was exactly six seconds ahead of runners-up Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest.
The diving went to Emporia’s Allisyn Weiss who captured 453.75 points, defending her title from 2024.
Top-10 Teams
- Andover – 304 Points
- Overland Park-Blue Valley Southwest – 276.5 points
- Lansing – 215 points
- Overland Park-St. Thomas Aquinas – 119 points
- Wichita-Kapaun Mt. Carmel – 118 points
- Andover Central – 115 points
- Maize South – 104 points
- Hays/Hillsboro – 90 points (tie)
- —
- Leavenworth – 88 points
