Maize senior Zach Rife and Olathe Northwest senior Bryan Branstrom ended their preliminary session of the Class 6A swimming and diving championships with a cordial chat in the pool after their anchor legs of the 400-yard freestyle relay on Friday.
 
The intensity figures to ramp up Saturday as the standout freestylers go head-to-head for the 100-yard freestyle state title.
 
Rife, the reigning 6A champion in the 100 and 200 freestyles, fired the first salvo in their potential showdown, winning his 100 heat in 46.18 seconds to qualify as the top seed for Saturday’s finals. Branstrom, who arrived at state with the top time in the event, won his heat in 46.75.
 

 “It was great to be in the lane next to him in that relay,” Rife said. “He is great to swim against. He is long, mean and a great swimmer in every sense of the word.
 
“It’s really fun to race against him no matter what the outcome is.”
 
Branstrom put his own stamp on Friday’s prelims, leading the group of 50-yard freestyle finalists with a time of 20.91 – the lone sub-21 second time in the field.
 
While Branstrom’s time drew plenty of oohs and aahs from the crowd, Rife and Blue Valley West senior Colton Poe were the freestylers who knocked loudly on the doors of record times Friday. Rife posted a personal-best 1:38.92 in qualifying for the 200 free, just .34 off the 6A meet record set by Shawnee Mission South’s Grady O’Connor two years ago.
 
Rife, who finished almost six seconds behind O’Connor in third during the 2024 record swim, had the Raider’s 1:38.58 on his mind when he entered the pool.
 
“It’s a great record,” Rife said. “He was a great swimmer. I wasn’t that close to him when he set it. Either way, it was a best time for me today and I’m not mad at it at all. I’ve still got another shot.”
 
Like Rife, Poe posted top qualifying times in two events. Last year’s third-place state finisher in the 200 individual medley swam 1:51.58 to lead the group of championship finalists. He came back in the 500 free with a time of 4:32.42, just a half second off the meet record set by Olathe East’s Ben Bravence in 2011.
 
Poe’s time in the distance free was more than 8 seconds ahead of No. 2 qualifier Hayden Renoux of Olathe West.
 

Other leading qualifiers for Saturday’s finals were Washburn Rural’s Daniel Allen, who swam 51.75 in the 100 butterfly; Blue Valley West’s Nathan Weiner, whose time of 50.98 topped the 100 backstroke; and Blue Valley North’s Jack Munro, who led the field of 100 breaststroke qualifiers in 1:00.27.
 
Blue Valley West posted the top times in two of the three relays. The Jaguars’ 200 medley relay team of Weiner, Eddy Le, Poe and Ben Scott swam 1:36.60, while Brandon Bracco, Scott, Weiner and Poe posted a time of 3:11.36 in the 400 free relay.
 
Shawnee Mission East’s 200 free relay team of Emmet Lynch, Cole Person, Barrett Tegtmeier and Luke Sinatra paced that event with a time of 1:27.79.

 

 

CLASS 5-1A

FANTASTIC FOUR: LOUISBURG SURGES AT CLASS 5-1A STATE PRELIMS

With just four swimmers on deck, Louisburg High School turned the Kansas Class 5-1A Swimming and Diving Championships preliminaries into its own showcase Friday at the Shawnee Mission District Aquatic Center.

The Wildcats posted the top time in six different events — including two relays — and flirted with state-record pace, positioning themselves for a historic Saturday as they chase the program’s first-ever top-three team trophy.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better day,” Louisburg senior Colin Brown said. “Everyone swam great. Casey is the top seed in two events, Andrew and I are each in the top spot in one event and Noah is swimming for a medal in the 50 free, plus both of our relays are No. 1 as well going into the finals. … Everyone did amazing.”

Louisburg’s 200-yard medley relay of Brown, Casey Carpenter-Ross, Andrew Jamison and Noah Sharp set the tone early, touching the wall in 1 minute, 35.65 seconds — just .63 seconds off the Class 5-1A state record of 1:35.02 set by Bishop Miege in 2019.

The same quartet later delivered a new personal best of 1:27.99 in the 200 freestyle relay to claim the top seed there as well.

“We are really close to some records in the relays and we have a chance to get there because not everyone swam their best in prelims and I think we have a lot more left in the tank for those,” Brown said. “The relays are my favorite. … To be able to try and win gold and get those state records — being on these relays is probably the most fun I think I have ever had with swim in general. To have Louisburg with a chance to be in the record book is just awesome.”

Carpenter-Ross, a junior competing in his first high school state meet after transitioning from club swimming this season, was the fastest swimmer in the pool Friday. He claimed the top seed in both sprint freestyles, winning the 50 in a personal-best 20.98 seconds and the 100 in 46.30.

“I finally broke 21 in the 50 free and I have been thinking about that all season,” Carpenter-Ross said. “The 100 free was pretty good too and to be the top seed in both going into the finals feels pretty good.

“We all had high expectations for the meet and when we all go out and swim well like we did we can be pretty good. This is kind of what we expected and we are all pretty happy.”

Sharp added to the Wildcats’ momentum with an eighth-place qualifying time of 22.36 in the 50 freestyle, a personal best that puts him in medal contention.
 

Brown, the reigning state champion in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, looked every bit the defending gold medalist. He posted the top time in the butterfly at 51.58 — his second-fastest swim ever and just shy of his title-winning mark from a year ago — and qualified second in the 100 backstroke with a season-best 54.01.

“That was my second fastest time ever and was the only other time I have swam 51,” Brown said of the butterfly. “The first time was last year when I won state. I was really happy with that swim. I didn’t feel too great this morning because I didn’t get much sleep last night as I had a lot of nerves. Hopefully what we did today will give everyone the confidence to do better in the finals.”

Jamison rounded out Louisburg’s string of top seeds by breaking the one-minute barrier in the 100 breaststroke for the first time this season, clocking a career-best 59.50.

With points coming from nearly every swim they enter, the Wildcats are maximizing every opportunity — a necessity for a team with no margin for error.

“To finish in the top three would be crazy,” Brown said. “It is a lot more difficult for us because we just have four swimmers, compared to a lot of other schools that can put together three relays and we can only do two because we only have four swimmers. … If we can bring home a plaque it would just be insane.”

While Louisburg stole the spotlight Friday, defending champion Andover remains firmly in control of the bigger team race as it seeks a fourth straight state title. The Trojans qualified for the finals in all three relays and will have at least one swimmer in every championship event but one.

Junior Clark Young led the way for Andover, earning the top seed in the 200 individual medley and placing second in the 500 freestyle.
 

Eisenhower junior Dylan Patterson also delivered a standout performance, posting a season-best 1:40.80 to take the top spot in the 200 freestyle. He later added another season-best, 4:39.04, to claim the No. 1 seed in the 500 freestyle.

Kapaun-Mt. Carmel took the spot in the 400-yard freestyle relay as the team of Henry Studnicka, Rob Richardson, Gabe Kappelmann and Allen Turner had a season-best time of 3:21.76 and held off Blue Valley Southwest who had a 3:21.89. 

El Dorado freshman Sam Christy continued his breakout season by grabbing the top qualifying time in the 100 backstroke with a season-best 52.75. Christy also sits third heading into Saturday’s finals in the 100 butterfly, putting himself in position for a pair of medals.

In the diving preliminaries on Thursday, Bishop Miege’s Justin Pullen had the top score of 207.60 and Andale’s Gage Cooper was second in 201.30.