This weekend, the girls of Lincoln Southwest swept all but three events to win 2016 Nebraska State High School Championships by nearly 90 points. Olivia Calegan, Alana Palmer, and Dannie Dilsaver led the way with two individual and two relay victories apiece for the Silverhawks. Along the way, the Silverhawks took down seven Nebraska High School records.
To start off the meet, the 200 medley relay team of Clara Walstad, Dilsaver, Kaitlyn Witt, and Calegan annihilated the state 200 medley relay record, swimming the event in 1:41.39. The old record was set last year by the Southwest team, a 1:45.01 swam by Emma Vertin, Dilsaver, Abigail Lunzmann, and Calegan. Second place went to Marian, seven seconds back in 1:48.03.
Southwest also scored a new state record in the 400 free relay, when Calegan, Palmer, Shelby Mullendore, and Dilsaver came together for 3:25.16, destroying the 12-year-old mark, 3:28.81, set by Marian in 2004.
Defending champ Dilsaver, a junior, set an individual state record in the 200 IM, swimming 2:00.57 to take down her own mark from 2014, a 2:01.91, and finishing an astonishing eight seconds ahead of the field. She set another record in the 100 breast, swimming 1:02.24 to beat Calegan’s record 1:02.24 from last year.
Not to be outdone, Calegan defended her 50 free title from last year by lowering her own state record. She swam 22.95 in prelims and 22.77 in finals, both of which outdid last season’s 23.17. She also set a record in the 100 free, swimming 50.16 to take down Marian’s Katie Eckholt’s 2001 mark, a 50.43. However, her 400 free relay lead-off was even faster, a 49.84.
Walstad took down another state record for Southwest, this one in the prelims of the 100 back. She swam 55.33 on Friday to break Omaha Westside’s Elizabeth Amato-Hanner‘s 55.70 from last year. Although Amato-Hanner, a Kansas commit, came back to defend her title with 55.86 in finals, it wasn’t quite fast enough to reclaim the record. Walstad took the silver in finals with 56.01.
Palmer’s double wins came in the 200 free (1:50.66) and the 500 free (5:03.50), taking each event by about three seconds.
Southwest’s third relay win came in the 200 free relay, when Walstad, Mullendore, Anna Heinrich, and Palmer swam a 1:35.67 to beat Marian’s second-place swim of 1:38.05.
Other state champions included Pius X’s Caroline Theil, who won the 100 fly in 55.66, and Bellevue West’s one meter diving champion Jessica Warak, who scored 483.75 for the state title.
Top Five Teams:
- Lincoln Southwest: 455
- Marian: 367.5
- Pius X: 157
- Millard West: 156
- Millard North: 122.5
