Kansas Boy’s 1A-5A High School State Championships Results and Recap

2017 KSHSAA BOY’S STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Hosted at Topeka-Capitol Federal Natatorium, Topeka, KS
• Friday, February 17th – Saturday, February 18th (Diving prelims Thursday, February 16th)
• 2016 Results 1A-5A
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets 1A-5A

1A-5A

About an hour after the 6A State Championships concluded, Topeka-Capitol Federal Natatorium’s flame was rekindled as a second wave of eager swimmers and anxious parents poured onto the pool deck and into the stands as the 1A-5A state meet prepared to begin.  Last year Maize beat Wichita Heights by a mere half-point; this year, Wichita Heights didn’t leave such a slim margin, winning by 41 points.

In the 200 medley relay, Kansas City Turner took the title over Wichita Heights by a mere quarter-of-a-second.  Wichita Trinity Academy finished third in 1:43.16.

Andover’s Spencer Krueger won the 200 freestyle in a 1:41.97, beating Seaman’s Zeke Metz who took the silver in 1:42.69.  Colton Smith of Wichita Trinity Academy took the bronze in a 1:44.16.

Senior Brayden Love of Leavenworth High School swam a phenomenal 200 IM and came close to the state record of 1:49.50 set in 2007 by David Winter.  Love’s amazing time of 1:49.88 would have not only won the 6A state title by nearly 4 seconds, but he would have handily broken the 6A state record of 1:50.51 set by Grant Rogers in 2010 as well.  In fact, the top 3 finisher in the 1A-5A championship final of the 200 IM could have been the 6A state champion.  Silver medalist Ben Patton, a sophomore from Wichita Trinity Academy, clocked a 1:50.26, and Ryan Downing, a junior from Bonner Springs, finished third in 1:52.51, once again well ahead of the 6A state champion.

Love, the top seed in the 100 fly who clocked a brisk 49.91 in prelims Friday, took out the fly in a blazing 23.10, well ahead of Patton who was only out in a 24.28.  Patton made up the ground over the middle 100 of the race, but could not quite catch Love in the final 50 freestyle.  Though Love will be moving on, Patton will have two more years to make a run at the 1A-5A state record.

Nick Callahan of St. James Academy dropped an impressive 35 one-hundredths of a second to charge to victory in the 50 freestyle, upsetting number-one-seed Dylan Jensen by a mere six one-hundredths of a second.  Callahan touched in 21.75 to Jensen’s 21.81, while Janson Garman of Seaman finished third in 22.00.

Brayden Love won the 100 fly in 49.57, well ahead of silver-medalist Max Hernandez-Nietlin who finished in 51.27, a sophomore from Bishop Miege High School.   Danny Christie, a teammate of Love’s from Leavenworth High School, claimed bronze in 52.14.

Andover Central’s Spencer Krueger claimed the 100 free state title with a time of 46.96 seconds, just out-touching silver medalist Lex Hernandez-Nietlin of Bishop Miege.  Ethan Conrady (47.44) and Dylan Jensen (47.82) took third and fourth, pulling in big points for Wichita Heights High School.

The 500 freestyle was a close race, but in the end Seaman High School’s Zeke Metz pulled ahead of Rose Hill’s Noah Baden who had led for the first 400 yards, winning 4:41.40 to Baden’s 4:42.49.  The 200 freestyle relay went to the team from Kansas City Turner in 1:29.21.  Wichita Heights claimed silver in 1:30.09 while Topeka Seaman, anchored by the freshly-minted 500 freestyle state champion Zeke Metz (22.22) claimed bronze in 1:30.51.

Sophomore Ben Patton from Wichita Trinity Academy nearly took down David Winter‘s 11-year-old state record in the 100 backstroke, winning in a commanding 50.29, just 1 one-hundredth away from hitting Winter’s record.  Senior Anderson Maginn from St. James Academy claimed silver in 52.86.  Ryan Downing from Bonner Springs took down Michael Bruce‘s 17-year-old state record in the 100 breaststroke, winning by nearly two seconds with a time of 56.28 seconds.  Noah Baden, runner-up in the 500, claimed silver again in the breaststroke with a time of 58.32 seconds.

Andover Central won the 400 freestyle relay narrowly edging out Wichita Heights 3:17.74 to 3:17.94.  Ultimately it was Spencer Krueger‘s anchor leg split of 45.86 that won the race for Andover Central, as Wichita Heights had led the race for the first 300 yards.

Mitch Willoughby from Mill Valley dominated on the one meter board, winning with 445.70 points.  Logan Carter from Bishop Carroll High School claimed silver with 363.60 points, and Zach Petz of St. James Academy claimed bronze with 357.25 points.

In the end, Wichita Heights claimed the team victory by 61 points, finishing with a total 242 points to Lenexa St. James Academy and Maize High School, both of which tied for runner-up with 181 points each.  Andover Central came in fourth place overall with 172.5 points.

Final Team Standings: