25 CLASS 6A GIRLS SWIMMERS AND DIVERS TO WATCH IN 2024
 

 
AUDREY APPUHN, WASHBURN RURAL
 
Appuhn burst onto the scene as a freshman a year ago, showing off her versatility by making the Class 6A Top 25 performance list in five different individual events. She settled on the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle for the postseason and after sweeping titles in those events at the Centennial League meet, Appuhn finished third at state in the 200 IM and fourth in the 500 freestyle, earning second-team All-Class 6A honors.
 

 
CASTILIYA ASIR, SHAWNEE MISSION SOUTH
 
Six was the magic number for Asir at last year’s state meet as the South standout enjoyed a strong freshman season for the Cougars. Asir finished sixth in the 200 individual medley and then came back and matched that placing in the 100 butterfly, earning second-team All-Class 6A honors. She also helped South’s 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays to a seventh-place finishes. Asir is the lone returner off those relays.
 

 
SARAH BLAKE, BLUE VALLEY NORTH
 
After teaming with older sister Caroline Blake to help North’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays to state championships in 2022, Blake and her Mustang teammates had to try and defend their titles without Caroline a year ago. Though they fell just short, taking runner-up to Free State in both, Blake still enjoyed a big state meet. The sophomore finished third in both the 50 and 100 freestyles on her way to a first-team All-Class 6A selection. With both finishers ahead of her in the 50 freestyle having graduated Blake will be one of the favorites for the title in the event this year. She’ll battle Olathe West’s Eliza Killough in the 100 after Killough edged her by .07 seconds for the runner-up spot last year.
 

 
SOFIA ELLISON, SHAWNEE MISSION NORTHWEST
 
If not for a pair of returning state champions, Ellison might have come away as a double state champion a year ago as a freshman. The Northwest standout saw Mill Valley’s Ella Hansen move up to 6A and tie the state record in the 100 butterfly to beat Ellison for the title in that event by two seconds. Ellison also finished two seconds behind defending champion Sophia Paduano of Blue Valley Northwest in the 100 backstroke. She set school records in both events and also was on a pair of Cougar relays that earned consolation final swims, earning first-team All-Class 6A honors.
 

LIZA ENGELBRECHT, FREE STATE
 
A key performer for Free State’s back-to-back Class 6A state championship teams, Engelbrecht will taking on a more leading role in this her senior season after the graduation of standouts such as Bradie Ward and Samantha Packard. Engelbrecht showed she can handle pressure, anchoring the Firebirds’ state champion 200 medley relay to a second straight state title and then serving as the lead-off leg on the winning 200 freestyle relay. Individually, Engelbrecht finished third in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, earning first-team All-Class 6A honors.
 

 
LYDIA FINK, OLATHE WEST
 
A sprint freestyle specialist for the Owls, Fink enjoyed her best state showing last year as a junior. After only making the finals in the 100 freestyle as a sophomore, Fink made the finals in both the 50 and 100 freestyle last year as a junior. She qualified eighth in the 50, but jumped up to a fourth-place finish in the finals and then came back with a seventh in the 100 free to earn second-team All-Class 6A honors. 
 

 
ANNIKA FINZEN, BLUE VALLEY WEST
 
Finzen has a chance to go down as one of the best the state has ever seen, if she hasn’t already established that. The Jaguar standout is undefeated in individual races at the Class 6A state meet, a feat that’s impressive enough. But after sweeping state titles in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke her first two seasons, Finzen changed things up last year and went after gold in two new events, the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley. Not only did she get the golds in both, she also erased the two oldest Class 6A state meet records, taking down a 24-year-old mark in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.93 and a 14-year-old mark in the 100 breast with a 1:01.37. Not surprisingly, she was named athlete of the meet and this year can accomplish the career sweep of state titles, joining elite company in that respect.
 

 
GAYLA GAO, FREE STATE
 
Gao did her part to help Free State capture a second straight team championship a year ago, and could play an even bigger role this year as the Firebirds go after a three-peat. Gao finished right behind teammate Liza Engelbrecht in the 100 butterfly, placing fourth. She also won the consolation final of the 100 backstroke. While she didn’t factor into any of the three championship relays a year ago, the graduation of a strong senior class opens up plenty of spots and Gao will be a key replacement this year.
 

 
CLAIRE GARRELTS, BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST
 
After coming from behind to win the 6A diving title in 2022, moving from third to first over the final three dives, Garrelts took command of the event last year. She built a 29-point lead on the field going into the finals and didn’t leave an opening for anyone to overtake her, capturing her second straight championship. Garrelts finished with a score of 434.70 points, more than 18 ahead of her previous season-best, to beat runner-up Brianna Devlin of Topeka High by nearly 28 points.
 

 
CARSON GRIFFIN, DERBY
 
The Ark Valley Chisholm Trail Division I champion in the 200 freestyle and runner-up in the 500, Griffin experienced a bit of a reversal at the 6A state meet. Her top placing came in the 500 where she made the medal stand with an eighth-place finish. She also took 14^th in the 200 freestyle. Griffin also anchored Derby’s 400 freestyle relay to a 14^th-place finish.
 

 
ELLA HANSEN, MILL VALLEY
 
With Mill Valley moving up from 5A to 6A a year ago, Hansen figured to have a serious roadblock to her bid for a state title in the 100 butterfly with two-time defending state champion Annika Finzen of Blue Valley West only a junior. Instead, Finzen opted to go after gold in different events at state last year and Hansen took full advantage. The thing is, if Finzen had stayed, Hansen might have won the showdown. Her state-winning time of 54.36 not only won her the title by more than two seconds, but tied Finzen’s state record. Hansen added a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle to now-graduated Bradie Ward of Free State. Hansen earned first-team All-6A honors after being a first-team 5-1A pick in 2022.
 

 
MARGO HAUSER, BLUE VALLEY NORTH
 
Hauser was an impact freshman for the Mustangs in 2022, taking third in the 500 freestyle, fourth in the 100 breaststroke and helping North’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays to state championships. Though she didn’t come away with any gold at state last year, Hauser hardly experienced a sophomore slump. She finished runner-up to Free State’s Bradie Ward in the 500, five and a half seconds back, and then moved up a spot in the 100 breast as well, taking third behind Blue Valley West’s record-setting Annika Finzen and Free State’s Halle McCullough. Hauser also helped the Mustang freestyle relays to runner-up finishes and earned first-team All-6A honors.
 

 
ELLA HOWARD, SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
 
East’s top distance freestyler, Howard took a big step from her sophomore to junior season in terms of both times and placings at state. After making just the consolation finals in both the 200 and 500 freestyles as a sophomore, Howard dropped serious time to make the championship finals last year. She improved by eight seconds in the 500 freestyle and finished sixth at state and took seventh in the 200 freestyle with a drop of three seconds. A second-team All-6A pick, Howard also swam on East’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays that took third and fourth, respectively. 
 

 
ADDY HURLEY, OLATHE NORTHWEST
 
After finishing 13^th at state in diving as a sophomore in 2022, Hurley vaulted herself into title contention last year. Sitting second after preliminaries, Hurley slipped to third in the semifinals, but maintained that position to finish with 403.30 points, leaving her only behind two-time champion Claire Garrelts of Blue Valley Northwest (434.70) and Topeka High’s Brianna Devlin (406.75). It was an improvement of more than 70 points off her sophomore state point total. Hurley will look to deny Garrelts a three-peat this year with both returning from the top three.
 

 
KIRA JACOBS, OLATHE SOUTH
 
Kira and twin sister Mia were the driving forces behind Olathe South’s seventh-place team finish. Kira earned first-team All-6A honors after finishing top three in both of her individual events. She finished third in the 200 freestyle behind Free State’s Bradie Ward and Mill Valley’s Ella Hansen and then came back to duplicate that finish in the 500 freestyle, coming in behind Ward and Blue Valley North’s Margo Hauser. The Jacobs sisters also swam on South’s sixth-place 200 medley relay and seventh-place 200 freestyle relay.
 

 
MIA JACOBS, OLATHE SOUTH
 
Mia wasn’t far behind twin sister Kira with her individual performances at state last year, taking fourth in the 200 individual medley and seventh in the 100 butterfly to earn second-team All-Class 6A honors. She also joined Kira on South’s sixth-place 200 medley relay and seventh-place 200 freestyle relay, swimming the anchor leg on the latter relay. South also returns fellow junior Lexie Ngo to both placing relays, replacing only Macy Bush from them.
 

 
ABBY JONES, WICHITA EAST
 
Jones was far and away East’s top individual performer at the 6A state meet a year ago, the lone Blue Ace to earn a medal in an individual event. Jones, the Greater Wichita Athletic League champion in the 200 individual medley and runner-up in the 100 backstroke, earned state medals in both of those events with a fifth-place finish in the IM and sixth-place showing in the backstroke. She earned second-team All-6A honors and also teamed with fellow returners Jordan Kleeman, McKenna Blessant and June Schmidt for an eighth in the 400 freestyle.
 

 
ELIZA KILLOUGH, OLATHE WEST
 
Killough nearly pulled off a huge upset in the 100 freestyle at the state meet last year as a freshman sensation for the Owls. After finishing well behind Mill Valley’s Ella Hansen and Free State’s Samantha Packard at the Sunflower League meet in the event, Killough closed the gap in a big way on Packard at state with Hansen choosing other events. Her time of 52.73 left her just .30 seconds behind Packard’s winning time of 52.43 for a runner-up state finish. She also added a fifth in the 50 freestyle and helped West to a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay and fifth in the 400 freestyle relay as the Owls finished sixth as a team. Killough was first-team All-Class 6A and is one of three returners for the Owls off their placing relays.
 

 
SIENA MASILLONIS, BLUE VALLEY NORTH
 
Another of North’s talented junior class along with Sarah Blake and Margo Hauser, Masillonis was a second-team All-6A performer last year at the state meet. Masillonis joined Blake in the 50 and 100 freestyles and medaled in both, taking seventh in each. She also joined Blake on North’s runner-up 200 and 400 freestyle relays that should be positioned to sweep state titles this year like the Mustangs did in 2022 with all four members returning to each relay – Hauser and junior Charlotte Barton joining the duo on the 400 and senior Lillie Mock and sophomore Katie Hettinger returning to the 200 relay.
 

 
ANGELA MCCOY, OLATHE NORTHWEST
 
McCoy enjoyed a solid debut season for the Ravens last year as a freshman, earning second-team All-Class 6A honors with a pair of state medals. McCoy placed fifth in the 100 butterfly with a best time of 58.62 that was less than a second from a top-three finish. She also finished seventh in the 200 individual medley in 2:14.58 after posting a 2:12.69 in the prelims. McCoy also anchored Northwest’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays to 11^thand 10^th-place finishes, respectively.
 

 
MOLLY NUCKOLLS, FREE STATE
 
Nuckolls has had a big hand in Free State’s back-to-back 6A state championships. After placing seventh in the 200 and 500 freestyles in 2022, she improved her placing in both events last year. Nuckolls moved up to a fifth-place finish in the 500 freestyle and gained a spot to a sixth in the 200 freestyle. She also was a member of the Firebirds’ championship 400 freestyle relay and earned second-team All-Class 6A honors. She’ll be Free State’s top distance freestyler this year with the graduation of Bradie Ward, who swept the titles in both events last year.
 

   
SOPHIA PADUANO, BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST
 
The 2023 state meet was an awfully bittersweet one for Paduano. Coming off a state championship in the 50 freestyle and runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke as a sophomore in 2022, Paduano was in line for a double-gold performance last year as a junior, trading out a title defense in the 50 free to go after the 100 freestyle title. But after easily leaving the field behind, Paduano was disqualified for a flinch false start, taking away her title. Fighting through the heartbreak, Paduano came back to claim the state title in the 100 backstroke, winning by more than two seconds in 55.50. Paduano also helped Northwest’s 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays to top-five finishes, earning first-team All-Class 6A honors for the second straight year.
 

 
RUTH PEREZ, MANHATTAN
 
Perez is a three-time first-team All-Centennial League performer who also earned All-Class 6A honors in 2021 as a freshman when she took fourth in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 individual medley. She hasn’t been able to improve her position at state, taking sixth in the 100 breaststroke the past two seasons. Perez owns the second-best 100 breaststroke time in school history with a 1:08.11 her sophomore season.
 

 
RILEY SCOTT, SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
 
Scott has given East a lift in diving each of her first three seasons, placing top seven all three years. After finishing seventh as a freshman in 2021, Scott moved up two places to fifth as a sophomore, improving her state score by nearly 60 points with a 377.15. She was just shy of that point total last year with a score of 360.75 as she duplicated her fifth-place showing. Scott, last year’s Sunflower League runner-up to SM North’s Meaghan Driever, will look to battle two-time state champion Claire Garrelts of Blue Valley Northwest and Sunflower League rival Addie Hurley of Olathe Northwest for the title as a senior.
 

 
JOCELYN WILSON, FREE STATE
 
A sixth-place finisher in the 200 individual medley as a freshman, Wilson placed eighth in the event last year at state as a sophomore. After taking 16^th in the 100 backstroke as a freshman, Wilson instead swam the 100 freestyle at state last year and picked up her second medal with a sixth-place showing. Wilson also swam the third leg on Free State’s championship 200 and 400 freestyle relays with the 200 relay narrowly missing the state meet record by just .22 seconds. Wilson was a second-team All-Class 6A selection and will be one of the Firebirds’ key components as they go after a three-peat team title.