Mac Moore/KSHSAA Covered
Blue Valley North's Jack Munro, middle left
Blue Valley North boys swimming and diving team
CLASS 6A
2023-24 STATE CHAMPION: Blue Valley North
2023-24 STATE RUNNER-UP: Shawnee Mission East
2023-24 REVIEW: Blue Valley North repeated as 6A state champions, scoring 314 points at the state meet last February. The Mustangs won both state titles without having a single individual state champion. In their most recent state victory, however, the team doubled on its gold medal performances in the relay races. Not only was the team able to repeat as the top team in the 400-yard freestyle relay, Blue Valley North’s 200-yard medley relay got the team out to a fast start with a first-place finish in the opening race. The Mustangs almost swept the relays as their 200 free relay finished as the state runner-up. Jack Munro and Connor Golding had the top individual finishes for the team as Munro took third in the 100 back and Golding took third in the 100 breaststroke. Blue Valley North leaned on its depth to finish 98 points ahead of the next best squad. Shawnee Mission East finished as the state runner-up for the second straight year. The Lancers also were the ones responsible for preventing Blue Valley North from sweeping the relays. Their 200 free relay quartet finished three-tenths of a second faster than the Mustangs. Peter Stechschulte took runner-up in the 1-meter dive event. John Crosby earned the team’s top finish in the individual race events by taking third in the 100 fly. Manhattan and Washburn Rural tied for the third-place trophy, 16 points behind the Lancers while sitting 52 points ahead of Blue Valley West in fifth place. Shawnee Mission South’s Grady O’Connor and Wichita Northwest’s Brock Wallace both repeated as double gold champs in their individual events to close out their high school careers. O’Connor earned double gold by winning the 100- and 200-yard freestyles while Wallace achieved his by winning the 100 back and 200 IM events.
2024-25 CONTENDERS: Blue Valley North seniors Connor Golding and Wilson Riekhof and junior Jack Munro will return to lead a Mustangs squad retaining much of its core from last year’s state victory, while still needing to replace five key seniors from that group. Junior Khasar Chinbat is also itching for a chance to improve upon his state performance following a fifth-place finish and a DQ in the 200 IM final in his individual events last year. Shawnee Mission East graduated two top performers from last year’s team in Peter Stechschulte and John Crosby, but will return senior Jack McClelland. Last year, McClelland finished fourth in the 500 free after taking a runner-up a year before as a sophomore. Junior Grant Kimmel will try to move up the leaderboard in the diving event after last year’s 13th-place finish, a result he replicated in the 100 breaststroke race. The team will look for a slew of returning swimmers who competed in the consolation races at state, such as seniors Zane Laing and Carson Graves and sophomore Emmet Lynch to push themselves into the finals of races this year. While Washburn Rural will need to replace its top two swimmers from last year’s third-place finish in individual state champs Jack Miranda (500 free) and Brogan Meier (50 free), Manhattan will return a senior-laden crew led by Willow Graves. Blue Valley West had a handful of departures, but Jack Punswick returns from a state championship win in the 100 breast. Sophomore Nathan Weiner will return from a pair of top-six finishes, including a fourth-place finish in the 100 back, to help Punswick lead the Jaguars. Olathe East senior Adam Hagan will lead a promising senior-laden group while junior Ellis Malone provides the Hawks an elite diver as well for last year's sixth-place squad.
Andover boys swim state champs
CLASS 5-1A
2023-24 STATE CHAMPION: Andover
2023-24 STATE RUNNER-UP: Wichita Collegiate
2023-24 REVIEW: Andover repeated as the 5-1A state champions, utilizing depth to score 374 points. The Trojans raced out to an early lead having three divers rack up 33 points, including a third-place finish from Braden Larson. Andover’s 200 free relay team narrowly took first in that event before the 400 free relay team closed out their final race with a three-second gap over the runner-up team. Eli Conard brought home the team’s lone individual state title by winning the 100 free. Ian Diefenbach finished right behind him in that race, delivering one of the team’s three state runner-up finishes. Conard also took second in the 50 free while Clark Young did the same in the 500 free. Joining Larson with third-place finishes, David Gott achieved that in the 100 back and 100 fly while Eric Witt matched that with his finishes in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM events. Wichita Collegiate scored 278 points to finish as the state runner-up. The Spartans won the 200 medley relay, but even a pair of first-place finishes by Derek Yang in the 50 free and 100 fly and another gold from Nathan Lynch in the 100 breaststroke could not help the team close the gap with the Trojans. Kapaun Mt. Carmel finished with 216 points to take third, distancing themselves by 40 points over fourth-place Blue Valley Southwest. Lansing took fifth by finishing seven points back from the Timberwolves. Frank Alberti earned double gold for the Crusaders by winning 100 back and 200 IM, which earned him a career sweep of that event. Lansing’s Zach Mendez repeated as the 500 free champ, setting the 5-1A meet record in the event, while also winning the 200 free to earn double gold as a junior.
2024-25 CONTENDERS: Andover will retain Braden Larson in the diving event and sophomores Clark Young, who delivered a pair of top-five finishes last year, and Brett Ziser, who contributed two top-six finishes. Young took state runner-up in the 500 free while finishing fifth in the 100 breast. Ziser’s top individual result was fifth in the 100 free. But the Trojans will need to replace the points from a slew of graduations and another key departure in Eric Witt, who will not be swimming for the team during his junior year. Wichita Collegiate loses Derek Yang, but retains seniors Nathan Lynch and Harry Ling and junior Luke Cremin. In addition to his 100 breast state title, Lynch tied Ling for the next best individual finish for returners on his team by taking fourth in the 200 IM. Ling took fourth in the 500 free. Kapaun Mt. Carmel is in a similar situation as Wichita Collegiate with Frank Alberti departing the team following a double-gold performance. But the Crusaders will have a strong group led by junior Rob Richardson and junior Henry Studnicka. Blue Valley Southwest will return a state medalist in junior Dane Weninger. Lansing will again have a strong base with senior Zach Mendez looking to three-peat in the 500, as well as defend his 200 free title. Senior Jakeb Kobs and sophomore Schaffer Gibson will provide the Lions with additional top-eight caliber swimmers across many races.