Already a two-time Class 6A state champion in both the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke, Annika Finzen could have maintained the status quo and chased third consecutive titles in each of those events this season.
 
Instead, the Blue Valley West junior went for a little shock value.
 
“Right before high school season, I was talking to my club coach and said ‘I’ve done it (the 100 fly and back) for two years and I think the breaststroke would be a really cool change up,’” Finzen said. “Then my IM felt really good throughout the whole season. So I was like, ‘You know what? Changing it up might be the best option.’ Not to scare people, but have them be like, ‘Whoa, she’s doing something different!’”
 
Finzen did indeed provide some shock and awe Saturday at the Class 6A state championship meet in Topeka. But it wasn’t to her fellow competitors, who knew exactly what she was capable of in her new state events, the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.
 
No, Finzen stunned herself. And wowed the packed Capitol Federal Natatorium.
 

 
In blowing away the fields on her way to state titles in both events, Finzen also took down the two oldest Class 6A state meet records.
 
Finzen opened her third straight double-gold state performance with a blistering 200 individual medley. Dropping more than three seconds off her preliminary time of 2:04.48, which was five seconds faster than the next qualifier, Finzen clocked a finals time of 2:00.93.
 
Not only was it nearly nine seconds faster than runner-up Halle McCullough of Free State (2:09.80), it broke the 6A meet record of 2:01.15 set by Emporia’s Katie Yevak 24 years ago in 1999.
 
“To break it is surreal,” Finzen said. “The whole mindset behind it was, ‘Oh my gosh I didn’t know I was going to go that fast because it didn’t feel that fast. I pushed myself to the limit. And then it was like, ‘Dang it, I didn’t break two minutes,’ which seems bad, but I’m always pushing myself to want more.”
 
Though Finzen had never met Yevak, she knew plenty about the former Emporia standout.
 
“She swam for the KC Blazers and I see her records all the time there,” Finzen said. “I thought if I could break one of hers, that would be just incredible.”
 

 
In qualifying for the 100 breaststroke finals, Finzen figured to have a bigger challenge on her hands from McCullough, who was within a half second in the prelims and had posted the fastest time in 6A during the regular season.
 
But just as she did in the IM, Finzen left no doubt. She bolted to the early lead and built on it throughout, finishing in a career-best 1:01.37 to beat McCullough’s 1:04.10 by nearly three seconds.
 
It also easily broke the 6A meet record of 1:02.29 set by Wichit Northwest’s Nikki Daniels 14 years ago in 2009.
 
“My best time was probably .01 faster than (Daniels’ record),” Finzen said. “I came in believing I could get it, but I always set my mind to lock in and compete with everybody because it’s not just handed to you.”
 
“We sat down and looked at times across the state and I said, ‘You could easily better your record in the fly and maybe get it in the backstroke, are you thinking those events?’” Blue Valley West coach Jordan Jacobs said. “She said, ‘I’m just feeling the IM, I feel the breaststroke.’ She knows her body so well and how she’s going to be in competition. You just have to trust her and I do. … She had some state record goals in those categories, so I was like, ‘OK. Let’s do it.’ It’s so cool to be able to put her in anywhere she wants.”
 

 
Finzen’s performance earned her athlete of the meet honors.
 
“It was a goal, definitely a goal of mine,” Finzen said of her state-record haul. “I had to drop so much time, but I was working towards it all season. I came here and I was not worried about times, just about having fun. I just pushed myself to the limit to see if I could get it.”
 
In addition to chasing state records, Finzen also has chased the legacy left by former Jaguar teammate Addi Barnes, who held nearly every school record when she graduated and was a four-time state champion.
 
Her last two titles came during Finzen’s freshman season and Jacobs said Barnes’ presence had a huge influence on Finzen’s successful career.
 
“Addi was a great leader and role model for Annika and they’re both on another level,” Jacobs said. “I’m so glad Addi was a senior when Annika was a freshman because Annika was able to watch Addi and how she led the team. She was so calm, cool and collected, knowing what was going on and getting the girls excited. Annika was able to channel a lot of that and she’s grown really into her own role as a leader on the team. That’s what I love about her, how much she cares about the other girls’ successes.”
 
Finzen has surpassed Barnes with six state championships and also has three state records on her resume. She set the 100 butterfly mark a year ago, but saw Mill Valley’s Ella Hansen tie it this year when Finzen opted not to go after a third straight title in the event.
 
With Hansen also a junior, the two could have a big-time showdown in the event next year if Finzen decides to go back to the fly.
 
“We’ll see,” Finzen said. “She’s the nicest soul so if it will be a great competition if we do race.
 
“I haven’t thought about it honestly. My mindset is to look at next year and see what else I can do. I’m not quite done. Right now I’m just preparing to see how fast I can go before I’m done.”
 
Finzen also could take on the challenge of improving her freestyle. She admitted it’s the one stroke where she’s not at the elite level she is in her specialty strokes.
 
And if she chooses that route?
 
“Maybe senior year we’ll surprise everybody again,” Jacobs said.
 
 

 
MILL VALLEY’S HANSEN PUNCTUATES TITLE BREAKTHROUGH WITH RECORD
 
Even after making big strides in the 100 butterfly a year ago when she finished runner-up in Class 5A, Ella Hansen knew she had plenty of ground to make up.
 
Particularly when she learned in late September that Mill Valley was moving up to Class 6A this year.
 
“I was not excited at all,” Hansen said of going from 5-1A to 6A. “I knew Annika swam the fly.”
 
That’s Annika, as in Annika Finzen, Blue Valley West’s two-time state champion – and 6A record holder – in the event. With Mill Valley’s classification change, Hansen’s hopes of becoming a state champion in the event seemingly had a pretty big roadblock.
 
Early in the season, however, the landscape changed. On two fronts.
 
First, Hansen served notice she was going to be a legitimate contender to Finzen’s crown. The Jaguar junior continued her improvement to the point where going into state, she was far and away the state leader in the event with a season-best of 54.43 at the Sunflower League meet.
 
“In March, something clicked with my butterfly,” she said, citing improvement with her underwaters. “I just trained it over and over and I figured I had a chance this year. ... Last year, I finally broke a minute and this year, I’ve just been dropping time ever since.”
 
The other piece of the puzzle was Finzen’s decision to shift her focus to other events. Instead of going after her third straight state titles in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, Finzen opted to go after crowns in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke at state this year.
 
Was that a relief for Hansen?
 
“Yes and no,” she said. “I really wanted someone like Annika to race. No, because I wanted to win.”
 
Had the showdown materialized at state, it would have been a dandy. Instead, Saturday’s final was merely a big-time coming out party for Hansen.
 
Not only did Hansen capture the first state title of her career, she did it in statement-making style. Her winning time of 54.36 was more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Sofia Ellison of Shawnee Mission Northwest (56.63) and also tied the state record that Finzen set a year ago.
 
“It just makes me super happy and all my hard work has paid off and it shows in the water,” Hansen said. “My personal best is a 53.99, so I was hoping to go even faster than I did. But I was proud of myself for becoming a state champ and the record just added to it.
 
“I’ve worked so hard since my freshman year and it’s always been a dream of mine to win a state championship. I was close last year and just said this year was going to be my year. And it was.”
 
Now Hansen has a wish.
 
“I want her and I to go head to head next year,” she said. “I think it would be fun.”
 
Hansen fell short of getting a second championship in her first event of the finals. After edging Free State’s Bradie Ward for the top qualifying time in the 200 freestyle by .03 seconds, Hansen saw her Firebird rival turn the tables in the finals.
 
Hansen took nearly three seconds off her prelim time with a 1:52.70. But Ward dropped nearly four seconds and won in 1:51.87.
 
“I was so proud of myself,” Hansen said of the race. “I’m OK with Bradie beating me and I knew it was going to be a tough race going in with how close things were. It was a personal best for me and I can’t be mad about that.”
 

 
BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST’S PADUANO REBOUNDS FROM HEARTBREAK FOR BACKSTROKE TITLE
 
It was a moment that was as devastating and heartbreaking as could possibly be.
 
After emerging from the water following a dominating victory in the 100 freestyle, Blue Valley Northwest junior Sophia Paduano was hit with a crushing blow.
 
She had been disqualified for a flinch false start.
 
Suddenly the joy of winning a state title was replaced by an onslaught of tears.
 
“I was super upset and I still am,” Paduano said after the completion of the 6A state meet.
 
Instead of letting the moment completely ruin her day, Paduano showed the mental fortitude of a champion. She overcame the heartbreaking DQ and delivered a dominating performance in the 100 backstroke to come away with a state title for the second straight year.
 
“You can be upset for a little bit and you can be upset after,” Paduano said of her DQ. “But in the middle of the meet, you have to pull yourself out of it and not dwell on it. I would definitely say I had to have a strong mindset. There’s been other things in swimming that have affected my mindset – nothing like this – but I’ve learned you have to get yourself out of there. It’s a build-up process but you just shut out the thing that happened and focus on the next.”
 
She admitted it wasn’t easy. Paduano was still battling the emotions for a couple races after the 100 freestyle.
 
And even as she was building a commanding lead in her 100 backstroke, Paduano said the emotions were still there to overcome.
 
“At the 50 mark, I was still upset and was like, ‘Do you really want to go?’” she said. “But I was like, ‘No, you have to.’ At that point in my race, it was a very, very small mental block, but I snapped out of that and I’m glad I was able to do that.”
 
Paduano finished the 100 backstroke in 55.50 seconds, beating Shawnee Mission Northwest freshman Sofia Ellison by more than two seconds with Ellison runner-up in 57.55.
 
A state champion in the 50 freestyle a year ago, Paduano opted to vacate that title this year to move up to the 100 freestyle. After qualifying first by more than a half second, the move appeared to be a good one as she left Free State’s Samantha Packard, Olathe West’s Eliza Killough and Blue Valley North’s Sarah Blake well behind in the finals.
 
A scoreboard malfunction left the field unsure of their times, but no doubt about who had won. Until the officials gathered and were consensus in Paduano’s false start.
 

 
As much as it upset Paduano individually, she said the pain took on a greater magnitude.
 
“We did the calculations and we were in line to get third overall as a team and without those 20 points from my win, it’s a lot less now,” she said. “It’s so disappointing because it’s two of my best friends’ last year and I wanted them to have a plaque.”
 
Northwest finished fourth in the team standings with 165 points, 15 behind third-place Shawnee Mission East’s 180 total.
 
With one more season to go, Paduano said she’s already motivated to finish her career with a double-gold showing. She said she’ll go after a title defense in the 100 backstroke, but could move back to the 50 freestyle.
 
“Honestly, I want to broaden my horizons I guess,” she said. “But we’ll see. It’s more of a strategic thing to what’s better for my team.”
 
 

 
BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST’S GARRELTS SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS DIVING TITLE
 
Given how tight the competition was going into the finals of last year’s Class 6A diving championship, one might have expected Claire Garrelts to be feeling pretty good when she built a commanding lead through the semifinals of this year’s state competition.
 
Instead …
 
“I was really nervous,” Garrelts said. “I felt like I was going to puke.”
 
The Blue Valley Northwest junior didn’t let her nerves, or stomach, get the best of her in Saturday’s final round. Taking a 29.10-point lead on Topeka High’s Brianna Devlin into the finals, Garrelts maintained the margin with three solid finals dives, capturing her second straight 6A championship.
 
Putting up a score of 434.70, Garrelts topped her previous best of the season by 18-plus points and beat Devlin by nearly 28 points to defend her title. Devlin scored 406.75 to take second while Olathe Northwest’s Addy Hurley was third at 403.30.
 
“I was really nervous going into it because I had really high expectations for myself,” Garrelts said. “I was really pleased with myself, not getting in my own head and just doing what I needed to go out and do. If you don’t get in your head and stay consistent, it will work out for you. That’s what I did last year and what I did again this year.
 
“I knew I was ahead by a lot, but that didn’t mean I could slack off. I still had to hit every dive the best I could to stay in that lead.”
 
In winning last year’s title, Garrelts had to come from behind in a crowded chase for the title. She sat third going into finals behind Devlin and Blue Valley West’s Rose Lawler, smack in the middle of a top five that was separated by just 17.5 points, including a mere 6.9 margin between the top three.
 
But after adding a pair of tougher dives to her competition repertoire this season – a front double twist and a reverse one and a half – Garrelts ensured there wouldn’t be similar drama this season.
 
She improved her winning score by nearly 44 points.
 
“Last year I had already had those dives, but I wasn’t really consistent with them,” Garrelts said of her tougher dives. “So I waited until I got more consistent with them before competing with them. This year, they were better so I was ready to do them at state.
 
“It’s just a really good feeling knowing I can do it again and hopefully I can do it again next year.”
 

CLASS 6A ALL-STATE TEAMS
 
First team
 
Piper Benjamin, sr., Shawnee Mission East; Sarah Blake, so., Blue Valley North; Sofia Ellison, fr., Shawnee Mission Northwest; Liza Engelbrecht, jr., Free State; Annika Finzen, jr., Blue Valley West; Claire Garrelts, jr., Blue Valley Northwest; Ella Hansen, jr., Mill Valley; Margo Hauser, so., Blue Valley North; Kira Jacobs, so., Olathe South; Halle McCullough, sr., Free State; Samantha Packard, sr., Free State; Bradie Ward, sr., Free State.
 
Second team
 
Audrey Appuhn, fr., Washburn Rural; Castillya Asir, fr., Shawnee Mission South; Brianna Devlin, sr., Topeka High; Lydia Fink, jr., Olathe West; Gayla Gao, so., Free State; Ella Howard, jr., Shawnee Mission East; Mia Jacobs, so., Olathe North; Abby Jones, jr., Wichita East; Eliza Killough, fr., Olathe West; Siena Masillonis, so., Blue Valley North; Angela McCoy, fr., Olathe Northwest; Molly Nuckolls, jr., Free State; Sayler Roberts, sr., Campus; Jocelyn Wilson, so., Free State.
 
6A athlete of the meet – Annika Finzen, Blue Valley West
 
6A coach of the year – Annette McDonald, Free State