Although they finished third overall, the Cinco Ranch team had the most exciting performance of the Texas 6A State Swimming Championships, taking down a 23-year-old Texas state high school record by over half a second.
The Southlake Carroll men won the team title by over 100 points, setting a new 400 free relay record along the way, and the men of Austin Westlake finished second overall.
Live results (with scoring) here, and full results here.
Cinco Ranch’s historic record came in the 200 free relay, when Chris Betts, Billy Fales, Glen Cowand, and Alex Smilenov (a Brown commit) teamed up for 1:22.54 to break Humble Kingwood’s 1993 record of 1:23.15. Their splits were 20.67, 21.64, 20.04, and 20.19, respectively.
Cowand later came back to win the 100 back in 47.40, missing the individual record by just .03. He collected three gold medals total; the Katy Cinco team of Cowand, Christopher Hung, Fales, and Betts also won the 200 medley in 1:33.01, narrowly outswimming Round Rock Westwood’s 1:33.25.
The Southlake 400 free relay record came from Alex Zettle, Jack LeVant, Austin Whalen (a Georgia Tech commit) and Colter Carman, who came together to destroy the previous 3:02.32 set by Klein in 2015, going 2:59.69. They were the only team to break three minutes, but Westlake also came in under the previous record, clocking 3:00.90 for second.
The Southlake relay members also scored big points for their team individually. Zettle, a sophomore, won the mid-distance free events, clocking 1:37.17 in the 200 free and 4:22.64 in the 500. LeVant, another sophomore, also doubled up on individual titles, winning the 50 free in 20.23 and the 100 fly in 48.20.
Mike Thibert of Mansfield High School, a Texas A&M commit, won the 100 free in a field packed with talent, swimming a 44.49. Six of the eight swimmers in the championship final were seniors, including second-place finisher Smilenov, who clocked 44.96.
UNC commit Brendan Feehery of Jesuit College Prep won the 200 IM in 1:48.33. He came close to a second title in the 100 breast, but Austin Westlake’s Matthew Willenbring outswam him by just one one-hundredth. Willenbring won the event in 56.20, and Feehery took the silver in 56.21.
Top Team Scores:
- Southlake Carroll: 295
- Austin Westlake: 194
- Katy Cinco Ranch: 189
- Conroe The Woodlands: 139
- Round Rock Westwood: 99
How cool it would be to return to our glory days
We would’ve been 1+ seconds faster on the medley relay had I heard the starter.
True. My son, Sean Murphy, told me that you had started a full second late.
Congratulations on winning the relay anyway. Good Job! Your Team and your coach did a fine job at the State Meet.
See you next year.
Coach Murphy
Ms. Hecht,
Thanks for your coverage of our Texas 6A State Swim/Dive Championships.
I am biased, but would argue that the Southlake Carroll Boy’s 400 free relay of 2:59.69 was THE most exciting swim of the 2016 Texas 6A State Meet. This excellent relay performance lowered the Texas State Record by over 2.5 seconds from before the meet, and is only .69 off the NISCA National HS Record of 2:59.00 for Public Schools. As far a we can tell, there have only been 2 other Public School Teams in US HS swimming history that have gone faster. Additionally, ALL the swimmers on that relay are Americans, and, as Public School students, live in the same school district.
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Nope – look at the pics after that 200 free relay. Wow what a shocker to the runner up team AND what a crowd pleaser it was! I’ve seen a lot of relays in my day and this one was UNFORGETTABLE!
Cinco Ranch’s 200 free relay was a surprise, both to myself and to our Southlake Boys. Great job by Coach Patterson and her Cinco Ranch Boys. It was great motivation for an exceptional 400 free relay effort against the same four Cinco Ranch Boys. Again, congratulations to Coach Patterson and her Boys.
Looking forward to racing them again next year.
Coach Murphy
295 is the record for Boy’s points in the largest UIL Texas Classification. Old record of 286, by Southlake Carroll in 2012. Only 45 individual points are graduating this year.
The 6th year in a row! Wow building a dynasty over there! Is the 295 points be a record in its self?
Micheal – it is.