Grady O’Connor reached the wall after his first race at state this year with plenty of time before the next best swimmer joined him.

The Shawnee Mission South senior did not need to look up at the electronic leaderboard to see if he was first in the 200-yard freestyle for the second straight season. But his eyes still remained transfixed on the display, waiting for results to light up the screen.

When his time flashed on the board, O’Connor saw the exact thing that he hoped would be there. Next to O’Connor’s name was his time, 1:38.58, the new Class 6A state record for the 200 free. Washburn Rural senior Jack Miranda took second with a time of 1:44.04, followed by Maize sophomore Zachary Rife in third at 1:44.27.

O’Connor excitedly lifted his entire upper body above the pool, only to come crashing back down when his right arm pulled all his weight into a thunderous punch against the surface of the pool.

“I was so excited,” O’Connor said. “That’s been my No. 1 goal for such a long time.”

O’Connor could not hold back his excitement after completing a goal that he’s had for years. His reaction was a complete 180 degree change from his response after winning the same two races, the 100 and 200 free, at last year’s state meet.

O’Connor tried to be happy with last year’s double-gold performance, but he could not help but feel disappointed as an illness prevented him from reaching the times he had set as goals for himself.
 

“I got the hardware I wanted, but it was kind of like a wake up call, especially if I wanted to get my times,” O’Connor said.

In his interview with KSHSAA Covered after that state meet, O’Connor called his shot. He said he was going to put in the work to make sure he could come back to this year's state meet and break that record.

O’Connor started by deciding to switch to a different club team, which ultimately led to change in his workout regiment. He started doing 12 practices a week, which he maintained for almost the entire nine months heading into this high school season.

“I worked my (expletive) off,” O’Connor said. “I worked really hard, especially to get here and win this again, and get the state record, too.”

Shawnee Mission South boys swimming and diving head coach Derek Berg appreciates the hard work, which he said has a positive impact on the team in so many more ways than just O’Connor delivering top points at every meet.

“Grady is a generational athlete that is the picture of talent meeting hard work,” Berg said. “Grady has been a leader in and out of the water. He works hard and pushes himself every day, is positive with his teammates and helps them push themselves. He elevates those around him and has always done so with a smile on his face.”

O’Connor’s work ethic has pushed him to the point that he was no longer competing against other freestylers in the races, but against the standards that O’Connor had set for himself. Even with his seed times showing little chance of anybody catching up to him at state, O’Connor said he was still nervous, particularly after prelims.

“I was pretty skeptical that I was even able to do it,” O’Connor said. “But I kind of just got behind those blocks and I was like, ‘I’ve trained for this. I’ve worked so hard for this. I’ve done the times in practice with Coach Berg over and over again.”

O’Connor said he knew he had already done all the necessary preparation, so now he just had to “let the swim just kind of evolve itself” and “just let it happen” during the 200 free.

“I knew I was going really fast and I just let that energy carry me to the end,” he said.

With a year of build-up and anticipation since his most recent chance to make his mark on the state record book, O’Connor erupted in celebration as he looked up from the pool to see his record-setting time.

“I almost started crying,” O’Connor said. “I’m getting emotional talking about it now. Just knowing, especially looking up at my parents and seeing all the sacrifices (his parents made) for me and all the practices they drove me to.”

O’Connor said that various internal and external pressures also added to how emotional that moment was for him.
 

“I had so much pressure and I just didn't want to disappoint anyone," he said. "It just felt like a huge release of stress and so much pressure. It was awesome, something I can't really describe even now. I’m still kind of in shock that it happened.”

After he saw that Lansing's Zach Mendez broke the 500 free record for 5-1A in prelims the day before, O’Connor told himself that he needed to be the one to break a 6A record in the finals. The former record holder, Olathe East’s Ben Bravence, set the record in 2011 with a time of 1:38.72. Bravence’s wife, Rachel Bravence, is an assistant coach for the Raiders. 

O’Connor also seemed like he might have a shot at the 100-yard freestyle state record as well, but he said that was not one he really viewed as likely heading into state.

“I knew I wasn't gonna get 44.1,” O’Connor said. “I know (Blue Valley North’s) Sam (Disette) personally. I knew I could get to 44-high and that was another huge goal of mine.”

O’Connor won it with a time of 44.99, well ahead of the state runner-up, Washburn Rural senior Mariano Palacian at 47.46. Rife took third with a time of 47.54. But O'Connor said that he did not want to want to put the same pressure on himself for that race, especially after how much the 200 free already took out of him.

“I already got a state record,” he said. “We're just kind of playing with house money and we're just gonna go in and just see what happens. I mean, to get 44.99, it was awesome. I was really excited about that, too.”

In addition to his double-gold performance, O’Connor also helped lead his 400-yard freestyle relay to a seventh-place finish. 

O’Connor earned the Athlete of the Meet award for Class 6A, as well as being named an all-state first team selection. He’ll add that plaque to the four gold medals he has won across the last two state meets. As a sophomore, O’Connor took second in the 200 free and third in the 100 free at state. The year before he finished fourth in the 100 free and fifth in the 200 free during his first trip to state.

His fourth and final trip to state provided quite a haul, especially for somebody who was not sure if they would compete at this meet.

O’Connor said that heading into this week, he was not sure if he wanted to return to the water at all

“I’ve just been dealing with some stuff and I was just kind of done with it,” he said. “But that’s why sports are awesome and I love swimming. You just can’t really beat the time, the time just says it all. Just seeing all that work, it was awesome. It reminded me why I love this sport.”

Before this year’s state experience reinvigorated his love for swimming, he had considered not competing at the next level.

“But I think after today, that's something I want to definitely pursue,” O’Connor said.
 
 

NORTHWEST’S WALLACES PUTS COMPETITION TO SLEEP WITH REPEAT DOUBLE GOLD
 
It might have seemed like a foregone conclusion that Brock Wallace would go after back-to-back state titles in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke, events he narrowly claimed championships in last year as a junior.
 
But owning Class 6A’s best or second-best time in all but the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, the Wichita Northwest senior had so many options on which direction he wanted to take at state his senior year. And it weighed on him heavily as the state meet approached.
 
“There was a lot of debate, a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of talking to coaches after every practice about just what do I want to do,” said Wallace, who had 6A’s top pre-state times in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle and second-best times in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. “Ultimately, it came down to this is the last time I ever get to do this, let’s do what I’m known for and what got me to where I’m at.
 
“But I was on the edge of switching it up, trying new things and seeing how dominant I could be.”
 
Wallace settled on the same events he won as a junior and his dominance was on full display.
 
After beating Blue Valley Northwest’s Micah Churchill by less than a second for the 200 individual medley title a year ago, Wallace topped his Husky rival by nearly three seconds in their rematch on Saturday.
 
In the 100 backstroke – an event Wallace won by just .26 seconds last year over graduated Grayson Moyer of Blue Valley West – the Grizzly standout won by a second and a half over Blue Valley Northwest’s John Christianson.
 
“I was definitely comfortable and confident in myself,” Wallace said. “I knew I could do it and I just had to believe in myself and go out and swim comfortable and I think I did that and it paid off.”
 

Going after a second straight title in the 200 IM was never in doubt for Wallace. It’s his favorite event as it shows off his versatility in each of the strokes. And there was never really a doubt he would repeat as champion.
 
He held a three-second margin over Churchill – who later won a state title in the 100 butterfly – going into the state meet and a two and a half-second advantage after Friday’s prelims. In the finals, he maintained that margin, clocking a 1:51.51 to finish well ahead of Churchill, who was second in 1:54.17.
 
Wallace’s time was even more thrilling for him than his easy victory.
 
“Getting All-American consideration by .01 of a second, that’s been a goal for as long as I’ve been swimming,” he said. “I’ve had coaches who were All-Americans and I wanted to be a part of those elite. Hopefully I get that honor.”
 
The true event debate came down to whether he would swim the 500 freestyle or go after a second straight backstroke crown. With a season-best of 4:41.50 in the 500, Wallace held a eight and a half second edge over potentially his closest competition for the title, Washburn Rural’s Jack Miranda (4:50.00) and Shawnee Mission East’s Jack McClelland (4:50.64).
 

 
The 100 backstroke, meanwhile, posed some challenges.
 
“I really wasn’t super-impressed with my backstroke at state last year,” he said. “So that was a thing. I wasn’t happy with it last year, so let’s make it happy worthy this year.”
 
Furthermore, he wasn’t – on paper – the favorite going into state. At the Eastern Kansas League meet on Feb. 3, BV Northwest’s Christianson clocked a 52.35 that made him the 6A leader, just ahead of Wallace’s season-best of 52.49.
 
With that title far from a given, Wallace accepted the challenge before him.
 
“I saw him light up that No. 1 time and I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to have to earn it,’” Wallace said. “It wasn’t going to be given to me and maybe that made me more excited. The fact that I’d have a good race and had to kind of come from behind.”
 
The two were neck and neck early in the finals before Wallace slowly took command. He pulled away to win in 50.54 seconds with Christianson second in 52.10.
 
Wallace finished his career as a four-time state champion overall and two-time All-Class 6A selection.
 
“I’ve accomplished so many goals,” he said. “One becoming a state champion and then doing it four times. That’s something that was unimaginable for me four years ago.”
 
 

BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST’S CHURCHILL REPEATS AS 100 FLY CHAMP, STILL SEES WORK TO BE DONE

Blue Valley Northwest junior Micah Churchill left this year’s state meet with a lot of extra weight for the second straight season.

Churchill duplicated his individual finishes from last year, winning the 100-yard butterfly while taking second in the 200-yard individual medley.

Although he had to trade his 200-yard medley relay gold medal for silver this year, his awards pile weighed about that same as last year for the first-time all-state selection.

But Churchill still left this year’s state meet with a lot more weighing on him than his medals.

“It feels good to win obviously, but my time was really bad compared to where I wanted to be,” Churchill said. “There was a lot of things I could have done a lot better in that race, so not feeling great, but I'm always happy to win.”

Churchill cut his seed time by 1.69 seconds in prelims, distancing himself from the rest of the swimmers. But Churchill said he returned for the finals the next day “just not feeling amazing.” He ended up finishing with a time of 50.59, giving him a sizable advantage over the state runner-up, Washburn Rural senior Brogan Meier, at 51.46.

“I just don't know if it was really the day or the time,” Churchill said. “It was kind of a bad race.I came up, I had some weird stroke trying to get to the wall, so I had to take an extra small stroke a couple times.

“Hopefully I'll do better next year.”
 

While Churchill was disappointed with that result, he was actually much happier about his stater runner-up finish in the 200 IM.

“I was really happy with my IM, splits were right where I wanted them to be,” Churchill said. “My breaststroke was a lot better than it was last year, obviously.”

It also helped that Wichita Northwest’s Brock Wallace was a clear frontrunner heading into the event, which he also won last year. Wallace ended up winning it again with a time of 1:51.51. Churchill also repeated as the runner-up, shaving 3.66 seconds off his seed time to finish at 1:54.17.

“I didn't really think I was gonna beat Brock. Brock is insane,” Churchill said. “But yeah, I was really happy with my IM finish.”

With Wallace graduating, the door opens up for Churchill to possibly win this event as a senior next year. But Churchill’s focus right now is largely on correcting what he considers a setback in his gold-medal winning event.

Just like Shawnee Mission South’s Grady O’Connor did after his first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle fell short of his own expectations, Churchill wants to call his shot right now. His goal is not just three-peat in the 100 fly, but break the current record of 48.66 set by Free State’s Jordan Portela in 2017.

“I promise you I'm gonna be 48 low at least next year, and I'm gonna fly,” Churchill said. “I wanted to get it today, but I don't know. I'm going to definitely rethink how I'm training and what to work on next year. I’m going to get my record next year.”

Blue Valley Northwest head coach Kyle Farrington has no doubts that Churchill will do the work necessary to get himself ready to fulfill that promise.

“He is obviously a great swimmer, but he has evolved into a fantastic leader in the past two years,” Farringtion said. “He is consistently one of our hardest workers and inspires others to work hard as well.”
 

 
WASHBURN RURAL’S MEIER, MIRANDA DEFEND HOME TURF, LEAD JUNIOR BLUES BACK TO TEAM TROPHY
 
It had been long enough.

With Capitol Federal Natatorium serving as both the home practice and meet facility for most of Topeka’s high school programs as well as the host site for state championships, there’s always a sense for the hometown swimmers to defend their turf.
 
But in recent years, at the 6A level at least, they hadn’t gotten it done. The last championship from a 6A swimmer at the boys state meet came in 2018 when Washburn Rural’s Tarrin Fisher swept state titles in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, setting a 6A meet record in the latter that still stands.
 
Coming off a record-setting performance at last week’s Centennial League meet, Washburn Rural was never in better position to end that drought. And Saturday, the senior duo of Brogan Meier and Jack Miranda made sure it happened.
 
Meier upheld his top qualifying time to win an ultra-tight battle in the 50 freestyle and Miranda followed not long after with a dominating win in the 500 freestyle. The titles helped propel Washburn Rural to a. tie with league rival Manhattan for third place in the team standings – the best team finish for the Junior Blues in program history.
 
“We wanted to show out,” Meier said. “We’re all so happy, but it’s also kind of 50-50. I was so happy to get third and to share the trophy with Manhattan. They’re our rival team, but we’re all like brothers, too. But at the same time, the competitive part of me knows that .20 (seconds) was the difference between splitting a trophy and having it all to ourselves. We were that close.
 
“It felt great. It wasn’t just me. Jack got an individual title. We were doing great all across the board.”
 
While Meier’s status for Saturday was never in question, his ability to perform at his peak was. In the week leading up to the state meet, he developed a chest cold and was battling congestion and other symptoms. Hardly ideal for a swimmer.
 
He fought through the illness to qualify first in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.49, just ahead of Manhattan’s Mariano Palacian (21.85), Rural teammate Will Powell (21.87), Blue Valley North’s Jack Munro (21.94) and Shawnee Mssion North’s Zak Kohoutek (21.95).
 
The race, along with later races in the 100 butterfly and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, took enough toll that Meier questioned what he had left in the tank for the finals.
 
“After yesterday, I was already tired and sick, trying to recover,” Meier said. “I wasn’t quite sure how well I was going to do. I didn’t do my normal stretch routine, I wasn’t right in my head. So I wasn’t sure I was going to go.”
 
But he got a nice pep talk from Rural coach Janson Garman that got him ready.
 
“I told him I wasn’t sure I could go my times and he looked at me and said, ‘Michael Jordan’s best game was with the flu,’” Meier said.
 
The 50 free final was the shootout expected and Meier had just enough to hold off the field. He won in 21.41 seconds, just .19 ahead of Manhattan’s Palacian (21.60), who led a crowded field chasing Meier with Shawnee Mission Northwest’s Gabe Cavin (21.75) and Max Cavin (21.78), Kohoutek (21.79) and Munro (21.90) all under 22 seconds.
 
Instead of a raucous celebration, Meier simply congratulated Palacian and Powell, who were in adjacent lanes and exited the pool.
 
“I was pooped,” he said.
 

 
Miranda also had a somewhat subdued celebration after his win in the 500 freestyle. But his reason was altogether different.
 
While certainly tired from swimming the longest race of the meet, Miranda was instead more in shock.
 
“Oh my god, I was in disbelief when I won it,” Miranda said. “The amount of excitement and felling you get when you take home the gold is just crazy and really I was in shock. I was not expecting that.”
 
Miranda certainly wasn’t a surprise champion in the event. He owned the second-best time in 6A this season in the event and when 6A leader Brock Wallace opted to swim a different event at state, Miranda went in as the favorite.
 
He then qualified first from the preliminaries with his time of 4:49.03 just over two seconds faster than Olathe West’s Hayden Renoux.
 
In the finals, however, Miranda was untouchable. Renoux, Manhattan’s Willow Graves and Shawnee Mission East’s Jack McClelland kept pace early, but by the halfway point of the race, Miranda was already pulling away.
 
“The first 300 was pretty strong,” he said. “But that last 200, I told myself I was going to push as hard as I can and I gave it everything I had.”
 
Miranda built nearly a pool-length advantage over Renoux over the last half of the race and finished in a career-best 4:43.71 – a six-second drop from prelims. He had time to look at the timing board and take it all in before Renoux touched the wall nearly six seconds later in 4:49.13.
 
“You can tell on the turns (where everyone is at), so I could see,” Miranda said. “After that 300, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s going on?’”
 

 
Miranda credited his first swim of the day for keying his dominant showing in the 500. Though he didn’t win the title in the 200 freestyle, he posted a best of 1:44.04. Shawnee Mission South’s Grady O’Connor took the title in the event, defending his crown with a state-meet record time of 1:38.58.
 
“I was swimming for second on that one, no way I was going to touch Grady,” Miranda said. “When I saw No. 2 on the board, it was crazy. Honestly, if I hadn’t done that well in the 200 I wouldn’t have done as well in the 500. The motivation and energy it gave me was crazy. I felt so good going into the 500.”
 
Washburn Rural was also in the hunt for titles in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, qualifying second in each. The foursome of Powell, Meier, Elijah Leenerts and Daniel Allen settled for a third in the 200 with a 1:28.22, finishing behind Shawnee Mission East (1:27.31) and Blue Valley North (1:27.60).
 
Going into the final race of the meet, Rural sat four points behind Manhattan for third in the team race with both having 400 relays in the finals – Rural having qualified second and Manhattan seventh.
 
Rural battled Blue Valley North from start to finish but came up just short as North won in 3:12.97 and Rurals’ foursome of Powell, Luke Lemke, Meier and Miranda just .19 behind in 3:13.16.
 
But Manhattan also rose to the occasion and jumped from seventh to fourth and with just four points separating the two in the event, they finished tied for third in the team standings.
 
“I’m very happy with third and honestly if we had to tie, it’s with Manhattan, that’s fine,” Miranda said.
 

 
Meier also added a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 51.46 to take second behind two-time champion Micah Churchill of Blue Valley Northwest, who won in 50.59.
 
The Junior Blues also got a pair of top-eight medals from Powell, who was fourth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 50 freestyle. Allen also added a seventh in the 500 freestyle.
 
Manhattan’s third-placed showing was led by Palacian, who finished runner-up in both the 50 and 100 freestyles and was the anchor on both Indian freestyle relays with the 200 relay taking fifth. Willow Graves finished third in the 500 freestyle and fourth in the 100 breaststroke while Max Steffensmeier was fifth in the 200 individual medley and also teamed with Graves, Ethan Balman and Samson Staedtler for fourth in the 200 medley relay.
 
 

MAJOR SETBACKS FAIL TO DETER BLUE VALLEY WEST’S PUNSWICK
 
Nobody can ever accuse Blue Valley West junior Jack Punswick of not being able to take a serious gut punch – or two – and come back stronger.
 
For most of his life, swimming has simply been a seasonal thing for Punswick, relegated to some time during the summer and then the three-month stretch of the high school season.
 
Instead, his real love was with a different sport altogether.
 
“Baseball’s always been my thing,” Punswick said. “I’ve played it all my life. I’ve done swimming since I was about eight years old, but it was always a month in the summer and then for high school just those three months of the season.”
 
So when Punswick got cut from West’s baseball team last spring, needless to say it was a huge blow to the system.
 
“I was devastated,” Puinswick said. “I went to my car and cried. It’s something I’ve been doing all my life and I got cut.”
 
In that crushing moment, however, Punswick said he “flipped a switch.” He decided to turn the negative into a positive and devote everything he had into his swimming career.
 
“I knew I had to go all-in on swimming,” he said. “So during the summer, I was up every day at 5, going to practice twice a day.”
 
Flash forward to Saturday’s state meet, and the devotion paid off for Punswick. After never having even qualified for the state meet, let alone place, Punswick became a somewhat unlikely state champion. The 6A leader in the 100 breaststroke going in, Punswick turned in a dominating performance, winning by more than two seconds over Olathe Northwest’s Keifer Yim.
 
“I put in all the effort and work and set my goals and I achieved them,” Punswick said. “I went from being cut in the sport I loved to being a state champion.”
 

 While the improbable state title might seemingly put a nice, neat bow on Punswick’s comeback story, there’s even more to it. More gut punches to overcome.
 
In addition to being the state leader in the breaststroke, Punswick also qualified for the state meet in the 200 individual medley and was a member of the Jaguars’ 200 medley relay.
 
Each of those events ended in self-inflicted heartbreak.
 
After helping West’s medley relay qualify in the No. 1 position during Friday’s prelims, Punswick was disqualified in the 200 individual medley. In Saturday’s finals, West just edged out rival Blue Valley North for the 200 medley title by .10 seconds, but the Jaguars were DQed when Punswick was deemed to turn with a double butterfly kick.
 
“When I got DQed in the IM, I knew I couldn’t let it impede my 100 breast,” Punswick said. “Then today, I went a 25.99 and we had won and then we got DQed and it was crushing. It killed me.”
 
With his coaches and teammates there to support him, Punswick got back up off the mat and delivered his gold in the 100 breast. His winning time of 58.60 was a touch slower than his prelim time of 58.38, but was easily fast enough to top Kim, who was second in 1:00.89.
 
Punswick admitted he played things a little safe in the finals to avoid heartbreak again.
 
“I was a little more cautious on my turns,” he said. “But it was an amazing race. I just had to keep my mind right and not let things get into my head. Just move on.”
 
 

SM EAST'S CROSBY COMPLETES CAREER WITH GOLD MEDAL IN 200 FREE RELAY, HELPS STATE RUNNER-UP LANCERS BRING HOME TEAM TROPHY FOR 13TH STRAIGHT YEAR

John Crosby left state this year sporting a sizable scrape across the left side of his forehead. Crosby sustained the injury in prelims during an accidental collision with the pool wall.

But by the time that the Shawnee Mission East senior swimmer had concluded his last high school swim meet, Crosby had earned enough hardware to forget all about his new battle scars.

Crosby finished as an all-state second team selection after helping lead his 200-yard freestyle relay team to a gold medal and lead the Lancers overall to a state runner-up finish.

Crosby, senior Peter Stechschulte, senior Cooper Blair and junior Jack McClelland turned in a time of 1:27.31 in the 200 free relay. 

Crosby said it felt amazing to get the gold in that one, particularly with the nail-biting finish involving Blue Valley North. In addition to winning the state title, Blue Valley North also won the other two relays at state. But the Lancers touched the wall a fraction of a second faster than the Mustangs’ 1:27.60 time in that race.

“We worked all year and we knew Blue Valley North kind of had a target on their back,” Crosby said. “We wanted to beat them and we did, so it feels amazing.”

Crosby said it was also great to win that event after the team also accomplished that two years ago. The Lancers won state that year, ending Blue Valley West’s three-year run of state titles. Shawnee Mission East could not prevent Blue Valley North from starting its own state title streak this year, but the team finished state runner-up for the second straight season.

Crosby also earned a third-place finish as a member of the Lancers’ 400-yard freestyle relay. As an individual, Crosby’s top finish was in the 100-yard butterfly where he took third, a mark he’s been focused on for a long time.

Crosby fondly recalls a memory of meeting a new swim coach when he was around 12 years old. The coach introduced herself by giving her background, which included a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly at a KSHSAA state meet.

“I want that, I want that top three,” Crosby remembers thinking at the time. “I want to someday tell my kids, or the kids that I coach, that I got third and placed at state.”

He also finished ninth in the 200-yard freestyle. Crosby finished the prelims for that race with a 1:48.97, just 0.45 seconds behind the last entry for the finals. His time of 1:47.22 would end up being less than a hundredth of a second slower than the fourth-place finish in the finals for the race.
While his individual performances and the gold-medal winning relay were highlights for Crosby, he was also very happy about his team’s overall performance. 

In a year where the Lancers won their third straight Sunflower League title, they were also able to keep an even longer state streak going. Shawnee Mission East has now finished top three in the team race at state for each of the past 13 years, and in 20 of the last 21 seasons. During that time, the Lancers won 11 of the program’s 17 all-time state championships.

“I feel really proud of everything that our team has done. Not just that relay, but everyone else,” Crosby said.

Crosby delivered 25 points in his individual races, outpaced only by McClelland with 26 points. McClelland finished fourth in the 500-yard freestyle and eighth in the 50-yard freestyle, in addition to being a part of those same two relay teams as Crosby. Stechschulte earned 17 points as the state runner-up in the 1-meter diving competition, finishing with final score of 452.25.

Another eight Lancers earned the team points in individual races, but Crosby singled out another standout who stepped up for Shawnee Mission East in a relay. Crosby noted the strong performance by freshman Cole Person. Person earned a third-place medal as a member of the Lancers’ 400-yard freestyle relay team, while also getting his first experience with individual state competitions as he raced in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races in prelims. His best finish was taking 20th in the 100 free.

With younger teammates stepping on at state like that, Crosby has high hopes for those guys to come back next year and keep the team’s team trophy streak alive.

“Everyone knows that BVN’s really tough, but we got some dogs,” Crosby said. “I think if they just put in the work like they have been this year, I think their shot is just as good as anyone else’s.”  

 WICHITA NORTHWEST’S BENOIT COMES FROM BEHIND FOR DIVING CROWN
 
There’s not much fear when it comes to diving for Wichita Northwest’s Giani Benoit.
 
But with a background mostly in doing flips on a trampoline and doing parkour, certain dives didn’t come quite as naturally. But they were the ones he knew he would need to add to achieve his goal of becoming a state champion.
 
“I had to throw more head-first entries, the blind entries,” Benoit said. “Last year, I didn’t have many of those. I started throwing more of those this year and more consistent dives, too.”
 
The addition of those harder dives and ability to execute them paid off. After taking sixth at the 6A state meet in diving last year, Benoit came away with the state title on Saturday. He scored 455.25 points to narrowly edge Shawnee Mission East senior Peter Stechschulte by just a mere three points.
 
Benoit trailed Stechschulte by 13.70 points after the completion of the preliminaries and semifinals on Thursday, 337.15-323.45. At that point it had become pretty much a two-man race with Free State’s Isaiah Wilkins the next-closest challenger at 298.55.
 
And though he had to come from behind, Benoit was confident he could make up the ground.
 
“I had confidence,” he said. “My last three dives are probably my best-executed dives. I was excited to come and try to win.”
 
Benoit executed his final three dives – an inward double, a forward one-and-a-half double twist and inward – well enough to overtake Stechschulte. He also credited the addition of a reverse one-and-a-half and a reverse dive to his repertoire for keying his run to the title.
 
“This means a lot,” said Benoit, a junior. “I’m so grateful for my coach, my family, my friends and I couldn’t be more happy. I’m ready to go again next year.”
 
 
CLASS 6A ALL-STATE TEAMS
 
FIRST TEAM
 
Giani Benoit, jr., Wichita Northwest; Gabe Cavin, jr., Shawnee Mission Northwest; Micah Churchill, jr., Blue Valley Northwest; Willow Graves, jr., Manhattan; Kooper Johnson, jr., Maize; Lincoln Mainelli, jr., Blue Valley; Brogan Meier, sr., Washburn Rural; Jack Miranda, sr., Washburn Rural; Jack Munro, so., Blue Valley North; Grady O’Connor, sr., Shawnee Mission South; Mariano Palacian, sr., Manhattan; Jack Punswick, jr., Blue Valley West; Hayden Renoux, so., Olathe West; Zachary Rife, so., Maize; Brock Wallace, sr., Wichita Northwest.
 
SECOND TEAM
 
Max Cavin, jr., Shawnee Mission Northwest; John Christianson, jr., Blue Valley Northwest; John Crosby, sr., Shawnee Mission East; Connor Golding, jr., Blue Valley North; Adam Hagan, jr., Olathe East; Jared Hays, jr., Derby; Zak Kohoutek, jr., Shawnee Mission North; Alec Lpez, sr., Blue Valley North; Jack McClelland, jr., Shawnee Mission East; Will Powell, sr., Washburn Rural; Wilson Riekhof, jr., Blue Valley North; Peter Stechschulte, sr., Shawnee Mission East; Nathan Weiner, fr., Blue Valley West; Kiefer Yim, sr., Olathe Northwest.
 
Athlete of the meet – Grady O’Connor, Shawnee Mission South
 
Coach of the year – Ryan Lee, Shawnee Mission Northwest