TOPEKA – Still dripping from the traditional championship plunge with her talented squad of swimmers Saturday evening, Andover girls coach Bethany Bastian turned her focus to three seniors who led the Trojans back to the top of Class 5-1A.
 
“They kind of told me what they wanted this year, and so we adjusted as we went,” Bastian said on the deck of the Capitol Federal Natatorium. “If we ever thought as a team let’s dial this back or let’s dial it up, they were all for it.
 
“They were bought in, and the huge thing was they set the tone for the rest of the team.”
 
At times, Mari Griffin, Kiersten Elliott and Sophia Mandanis had to try and try again to get their desired results. But that pursuit paid off in spades in their final high school meet, as each collected multiple gold medals, shared a meet record and won the second 5-1A state swimming and diving team championship of their careers.
 
Three years after helping Andover claim its first girls swimming title as freshmen, the Trojan trio was instrumental in ending Blue Valley Southwest’s two-year reign in 5-1A. Andover won four of the 12 events Saturday and finished with 304 points. Southwest, led by triple-gold winner Willow Weninger, took second with 276.5.
 

 “This is amazing,” said Elliott, who also collected three first-place medals, including an individual title in the 100-yard backstroke. “We had a bunch of new freshmen who came in and swam well, and I’m just so proud of them. I’m super happy with the way everything turned out.”
 
Griffin, an Arkansas signee, enjoyed her final state meet on multiple levels. She opened Saturday’s finals by teaming with Elliott, Mandanis and her sister, freshman Hollyn Griffin, to win the 200-yard medley relay in 1:46.09, taking down Bishop Miege’s 8-year-old meet record by more than a second.
 
It marked the fourth consecutive year Andover won the medley relay. Mari Griffin, Elliott and Mandanis were part of all of them.
 
“We didn’t really have that one on our radar,” Griffin said of the record-setting performance. “We were kind of looking at the 400 free relay a little bit more this season. But at league we went fast and somebody was like, ‘Oh my gosh. You’re only a second off the record.’”
 
After finishing second to her friend and club teammate Aleca Howard of Wichita Trinity in a dazzling 200 individual medley duel, Griffin claimed a long-coveted meet record while winning her third career gold in the 100 backstroke. She fended off Blue Valley Southwest sophomore Ashlyn Bolyard in 54.88, eclipsing the previous mark of 55.15 set by former Miege standout Cailey Grunhard in 2016.
 
Griffin’s history in that event featured its share of ups and downs.
 
After winning the 100 back as a freshman, Griffin’s first title defense was spoiled at state the following year by Labette County’s Sidni Meister, who edged her by .18. Griffin regained the title as a junior, but left with a bittersweet feeling after falling .14 short of Grunhard’s mark.
 
Even Friday’s preliminaries, when she led qualifying by nearly two seconds over Bolyard, came with a tinge of disappointment, as she swam 55.88.
 
“That was a super disappointing swim because I kind of let off in the 200 IM to try to have all my effort ready for the 100 back,” Griffin said. “And then I went 55.8.
 
“I kind of put the record out of my mind before the finals. Me swimming against a time is never a good idea. It was no more records, just focus on swimming.”
 
Bolyard, who finished fourth in the 100 back last year in her state debut, made that easier.
 
The Blue Valley Southwest sophomore pushed Griffin all the way to the final turn, remaining within striking distance. But Griffin used her closing speed to win by 1.16 seconds.
 
“I could not have done that without Ashlyn,” Griffin said. “She pushed me. My whole mentality going into that race was that I’m going to win and try to beat everybody as bad as I can. It’s my last one and I want to enjoy it.
 
“Ashlyn and I were super close the first 75, but I guess being a senior has its credits.”
 

 Elliott, a three-time, top-four finisher in the 100 breaststroke as an underclassmen, inherited the favorite’s role after Howard, the event champion each of the past two years, opted to swim the 100 freestyle. Elliott posted the top time of 1:04.61 in Friday’s prelims, then swam 1:04.75 on Saturday to outpace runner-up Makaila Hayes of Lansing, who finished in 1:06.27.
 
“I knew there was going to be a bunch of competition either way,” said Elliott, who added a fifth-place finish in the 100 free. “There were going to be other people who would want to come in first. You just have to work hard and be confident, knowing that you’re going to do good. I loved how everything turned out.”
 
While Mandanis didn’t win an individual title, she took second to Bolyard in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 58.33. That was just ahead of Blue Valley Southwest’s Sophia Sponseller and Valley Center’s Jillian Davis, who tied for third in 58.34.
 
Mandanis also finished third in the breast in 1:07.11, holding off Seaman senior Joslynn Grace (1:07.62) for that spot.
 
The Trojans’ latest team title was built on a blend of young and old. Andover’s 200 freestyle relay of senior Anaya Madden, sophomore Brynn Eilert and freshmen Ella Goodman and Alli Zerger held off Kapaun Mt. Carmel for third place, securing valuable points as the Trojans, Southwest and Lansing jostled for the top spot.
 

In addition to her relay victories, Hollyn Griffin finished fifth in the 200 IM and set a school record (5:16.68) in a fourth-place finish in the 500 free, peeling more than 10 seconds off Friday’s preliminary time.
 
Andover got points in individual events from Madden, Eilert and five freshmen.
 
To cap it off, Andover’s outstanding senior trio rejoined Hollyn Griffin for a convincing victory in the 400 freestyle relay, winning by six seconds over Southwest with a time of 3:33.99. That mark was just .06 off the meet record set by Wichita Trinity in 2007.
 
“We knew coming into the season this was possible,” said Griffin, who finished with nine golds among her 16 career state medals. “We got so lucky with an amazing group who are all so fast. And then to have my sister with me, it means so much to do this with her in my last meet.”
 
The turnover of veterans and newcomers has kept Andover near the top of 5-1A swimming in recent years. While Southwest won the last two championships, the Trojans finished third and second, respectively.
 
On Saturday, they regained the title with Natalie Neugent, a senior standout on the 2022 championship team, on hand to watch.
 
“These seniors set the tone, set the culture,” Bastian said. “It was like, ‘You’re going to work hard and you’re going to have fun and you’re going to win.’ That’s always a plus. We were talking about them as freshmen and how they thought we were going to win this all four years. That’s not how it necessarily works.
 
“But it was fun for them to bookend this with Natalie watching, and now I have their group of young kiddos coming up. It’s like a passing of the torch.”