UIL 4A State Championships
- Feb. 15-16, 2024
- Josh Davis Natatorium & Bill Walker Pool
- San Antonio, Texas
- SCY (25 yards)
- Championship Central
- Meet Preview
- Results on MeetMobile: “2024 4A State Meet”
- Live Results
Note: All meet records were from last year because the 2023 meet was the first rendition of the 4A competition since Texas reorganized its classifications in 2013.
Boys Team Scores
- Great Hearts – 254
- Andrews – 252.5
- Tuloso Midway – 240
- Gateway Charter – 188
- Decatur – 124
Great Hearts sophomore Sawyer Stolarczyk picked up four 1st-place finishes to help lift his squad past defending champion Andrews, 254-252.5, at the UIL 4A State Championships on Friday in San Antonio, Texas.
Stolarczyk swept the 100 free (46.52) and 200 free (1:41.10) with new meet records while also posting a personal-best 21.56 leading off Great Hearts’ triumphant 200 free relay (1:29.52) and anchoring the 400 free relay (3:19.33) with a 46.39 split to clinch the team title just 1.5 points ahead of Andrews. The performance was a massive improvement from last year for Great Hearts, which placed 6th (109 points) behind Andrews (333 points) at the 2023 edition of this meet.
In the 100 free, Stolarczyk outdueled former 4A meet record holder Matteo Nisimblat (47.33), taking down his mark of 47.04 from last year. In the 200 free, Stolarczyk demolished the previous meet record of 1:46.69 set by Andrews’ Brenden Ferguson last year by more than five seconds. He has been as fast as 46.49 in the 100 free and 1:40.76 in the 200 free, both at the Region 4-4A Championships earlier this month.
Bosqueville junior Hudson Bawduniak also broke multiple meet records during his victories in the 100 breast (56.67) and 200 IM (1:55.49). His 100 breast win wasn’t a lifetime best (which stands at 56.49 from regionals earlier this month), but it did obliterate his own 4A meet record of 58.24 from last year. In the 200 IM, Bawduniak shaved almost a second off his previous-best 1:56.25 from regionals, sneaking under the old meet record of 1:55.60 that Great Hearts’ Zachary Poupart clocked last year. He didn’t swim the 200 IM last year, instead opting for the 100 free, where he placed 7th (50.14).
Nisimblat couldn’t defend his 100 free title against Stolarczyk, but the Tuloso Midway senior topped the podium in the 50 free with a time of 21.63. That sliced .05 seconds off the previous 4A meet record (21.68) posted by Andrews’ Landyn Brewer last year. Nisimblat owns a lifetime best of 21.59 from regionals.
Panther Creek senior Aidan Eckard lowered his own 4A meet record in the 100 back, bringing it from 53.18 last year to 51.74 this year. He dropped more than half a second off his previous-best 52.35 from regionals. Eckard also earned a runner-up finish in the 200 IM (1:56.57) behind Bawduniak, shaving almost a second off his previous-best 1:57.43 from last year’s runner-up finish.
Tuloso Midway’s Alex Craig did just enough to reset the 4A record in the 500 free (4:58.56). He took .02 seconds off the old mark set by Ferguson last year and nearly two seconds off his previous-best 5:00.44 from regionals earlier this month. Craig added a 2nd-place showing in the 200 free (1:45.16) for the second year in a row.
Every individual boys champion was faster than last year’s 4A meet record except for Decatur’s Johnny Albaugh, who delivered a 100 fly victory in 51.99. He had a huge drop off his previous-best 53.25 from regionals, skipping 52 seconds altogether. Albaugh didn’t contest the 100 fly at last year’s meet, placing 5th in the 50 free (22.55) and 8th in the 100 free (50.33).
Stanton’s Ethan Coronado defended his 1-meter diving title with a score of 430.10, adding more than 20 points to his 4A meet record from last year (409.95).
4A Girls Recap
Team Scores
- Great Hearts – 314
- Panther Creek – 230
- Borne – 144
- Andrews – 135
- El Campo – 133
The future appears bright in the girls 4A swimming scene as a trio of sophomores impressed with meet records on Friday.
Great Hearts sophomores Jaylee Hager and Averie Hager took home two individual titles apiece while also helping their squad pull off a relay sweep to punctuate a second consecutive state crown.
Jaylee touched first in the 200 free (1:47.59) and 100 back (56.36), dropping more than a second off her best times from regionals in both events. She set meet records in both events, knocking more than seven seconds off the previous 200 free standard and more than two seconds off the old 100 back standard.
Averie triumphed in the 100 fly (55.25) and 500 free (4:59.73), taking more than a second off her best 100 fly time and two seconds off her best 500 free time. The old 4A meet records stood at 58.64 in the 100 fly by Great Hearts’ Maddie Mealey and 5:04.37 in the 500 free by Panther Creek’s Avery Whorton.
Whorton didn’t opt to defend her 500 free title this year, but the Panther Creek sophomore did have a stellar meet with a victory in the 200 IM (2:05.47). She shaved two-tenths off her lifetime ebay and broke the 4A meet record by more than three seconds in the process. Whorton also earned a runner-up finish in the 100 fly (personal-best 56.23) and led off Panther Creek’s runner-up 400 free relay (3:45.26) with a personal-best 53.08 — more than a second faster than the winning time in the individual 100 free event. She switched up her event lineup this year after securing state titles in the 200 free (1:54.82) and 500 free (5:07.51) last year.
El Campo senior Riley Wallis just missed the 4A meet record in the 100 breast (1:08.12), touching just two-tenths of a second behind Lainy Lewis’ standard of 1:07.91 from last year. Wallis has been as fast as 1:07.51 in December. Her El Campo teammate, senior Juliann Little, also clinched a state title in the 50 free (24.84), dipping under 25 seconds for the first time in her career. Little also placed 2nd in the 100 free (54.74) after placing 3rd in the 50 free (25.32) and 5th in the 100 fly (1:01.77) last year.
Randolph junior Lilly Pifer won the 100 free in 54.34, shaving .43 seconds off her previous best from regionals. She also placed 4th in the 200 IM (2:16.78), about a second off her best time from regionals. Last year, Pifer placed 4th in the 500 free (5:26.36).
On the boards, Georgetown Gateway sophomore Eve Shrader defended her 1-meter diving title and increased her winning score from 321.5 points to 400.85, raising the bar for the new 4A meet record.
