2024 OSSAA 6A State Championships
- Feb. 16-17, 2024
- Jenks Aquatic Center
- Jenks, Oklahoma
- SCY (25 yards)
- PDF results
Girls Team Scores
- Bartlesville – 405.5
- Jenks – 300
- Edmond North – 277
- Ponca City – 161
- Edmond Memorial – 160
Bartlesville sophomore Addie Howze lowered the Oklahoma high school record in the 100-yard backstroke to lead her girls squad to its sixth state title in the past 10 seasons at the OSSAA 6A State Championships last month.
Howze clocked a winning time of 54.76 in the 100 back, knocking more than half a second off the Oklahoma high school record of 55.39 set last year by Shawnee’s Piper McNeil. McNeil, a current Missouri freshman, also owned the previous 6A record at 55.67 from 2021. Howze had never been under 58 seconds before this season, dropping almost two seconds off her previous-best 56.62 from regionals earlier in February.
Howze picked up another individual victory in the 200 IM with a personal-best 2:03.79, taking almost two seconds off her previous best (2:05.72) from last March. She added a 25.01 fly split on Bartlesville’s winning 200 medley relay (1:47.96) and a personal-best 51.65 leading off the triumphant 400 free relay (3:29.54) to help her team finish with 405.5 points in total — more than 100 points ahead of runner-up Jenks (300).
The future is bright for Bartlesville as freshman Anna Young swept the distance freestyle events in addition to her valuable relay contributions. She dropped more than two seconds in the 200 free (1:51.58) before slicing another half a second off her lifetime best two weeks later (1:51.08). Young lowered her best 500 free time from regionals (5:02.06) by a second down to 5:01.05 on her way to the win. She also split 23.64 on Bartlesville’s victorious 200 free relay (1:37.34) and 52.17 on the 400 free relay.
Stillwater senior Avery Littlefield made it a four-peat in the 50 free with a winning time of 23.14, just off her mark from last year (23.09). The LSU commit also triumphed in the 50 free (50.46), a couple tenths shy of her personal-best 50.22 from last March. Littlefield ends her high school career with a remarkable four 50 free titles and three 100 free crowns, only losing one individual race across four state meets.
A pair of Ponca City girls won individual titles with huge time drops to help their team earn 4th place in the team standings just one point ahead of Edmond Memorial. Senior Sarah Dingus shaved more than two seconds off her previous best from regionals (57.43) to take the 100 fly crown in 55.41. Junior teammate Jessalyn Carpenter switched up her event lineup from the 100 free (5th place) and 200 free (8th) last year to the 100 breast and 200 IM this year, and the move paid off in a big way. She dropped almost two seconds off her best 100 breast time from regionals (1:06.32) en route to the victory in 1:04.51 while also placing 6th in the 200 IM.
Boys Recap
Team Scores
- Jenks – 419
- Bartlesville – 305
- Edmond North – 280
- Ponca City – 145
- Deer Creek – 137
Jenks returned to the top after having a four-year winning streak snapped by one point last year, totaling 419 points to cruise past Bartlesville (305) and Edmond North (280) for the OSSAA 6A title by more than 100 points. It was Jenks’ fifth team championship in six years and 22nd overall.
Jenks dominated thanks to its depth as the team boasted just one individual champion in sophomore Reece Pangburn, who captured the 100 breast crown in 57.62. That was almost two seconds faster than his previous-best 59.28 from November. Pangburn also placed 4th in the 100 fly (50.67) and split 22.38 swimming the fly leg of Jenks’ winning 200 medley relay (1:35.16).
Norman sophomore JD Thumann emerged victorious from a stacked 100 fly field featuring Bartlesville senior Griffin Craig and Edmond North junior Jack Starrett along with Pangburn. Thumann reached the wall in a personal-best 47.86, just about half a second ahead of Craig (48.37). Starrett also broke 50 seconds at 49.89.
Thumann also won the 50 free with a personal-best 20.15, taking .12 seconds off his previous best from December (20.27). Last year, he won the 200 free (1:40.70) and 100 fly (49.55) as a freshman. He still has a couple years to chase Aiden Hayes‘s state records in the 50 free (19.20) and 100 fly (45.47) if he chooses to keep the same lineup as an upperclassman.
Craig defended his title in the 100 back (48.90), just a hundredth off his best time from regionals. Last year, the Missouri commit won in 49.66.
Starrett also came away with an individual title in the 200 free (1:40.28), dropping half a second off his previous-best 1:40.86 that placed him 2nd in this race last year behind Thumann. He also contributed a 20.96 split on Edmond North’s triumphant 200 medley relay (1:25.48) and a personal-best 46.01 leadoff on the victorious 400 free relay (3:08.84) — faster than the winning time in the individual 100 free final.
Two of Starrett’s Edmond North teammates also captured individual crowns for their 3rd-place squad. Junior Garrett Levendofsky touched first in the 100 IM (1:54.14) and earned a runner-up finish in the 100 free (46.62), both in lifetime bests. He knocked more than a second off his best 200 IM time from last March (1:55.42) and more than half a second off his best 100 free time from last March (47.39). Levendofsky also anchored Edmond North’s winning 400 free relay (3:08.84) with a 46.52 split.
Edmond North senior Riley Conway posted a personal-best 46.51 to clinch the 100 free title after placing 2nd last year (previous-best 47.84). He couldn’t defend his 50 free title against Thumann, but he did get under 21 seconds for the first time with a runner-up finish in 20.95. Conway also anchored Edmond North’s victorious 200 free relay (1:25.48) with a 20.78 split. 20.78
The other individual champion on the boys side was Edmond Memorial sophomore Max Spory, who had a massive time drop to clinch the 500 free title in 4:37.13. His previous best stood at 4:45.08 from regionals, meaning he knocked almost eight seconds off his lifetime best from just a couple weeks prior.
