LENEXA – Coaching the Andover boys swimming and diving team might seem like putting a jigsaw puzzle together for Kelsie Biebighauser.
 
Not the wooden kind for young kids that contains just a few pieces. But the 1,000-piece variety that might feature a mountain scene or a European castle.
 
With so many pieces to work with, the Trojans have emerged as one of the latest dynasties in Kansas high school swimming. On Saturday, 16 of the 19 swimmers and divers Biebighauser brought to the Class 5-1A state meet scored points, 12 won medals and a quartet maximized their haul with four-medal performances as Andover claimed its fourth consecutive team title by 154 points over runner-up Kapaun Mt. Carmel.
 
One Andover swimmer from each class – senior Eric Witt, junior Clark Young, sophomore Blake Royse and freshman Henry Christensen – collected four medals apiece and sophomore Connor Borchers added three as the Trojans scored 379.5 points – their most in program history at a state meet.
 

But in addition to the standout performances, sheer numbers helped set Andover apart. The Trojans had the most state qualifiers among the 43 competing 5-1A teams. In contrast, third-place finisher Louisburg, which won five events, featured just four swimmers.
 
“They set a team goal at the beginning of the season to get the most people we could to state,” Biebighauser said. “We had some people who qualified in only one event and we put them in there while some others swam maybe not their best event. But they were so supportive of one another to get them here and experience it.”
 
Sporting Sinatra-style fedoras during the trophy presentation as a follow-up to last year’s shamrock-covered, green cowboy hats, Andover celebrated the most dominant of its four state titles. Young, who won the Trojans’ lone individual event title at last year’s 5-1A meet, defended it in the 200-yard individual medley, posting a time of 1:53.74 to edge teammate Witt, who touched in 1:54.26.
 
But Witt, who opted to sit out his junior season after collecting multiple medals for Andover’s first two championship teams, capped his career in style. Dealing with a groin injury he sustained during a workout earlier in the week, Witt notched his first 5-1A title in the 100-yard breaststroke. His winning time of 58.06 cut more than four seconds off his preliminary swim on Friday and was almost a full second ahead of runner-up Andrew Jamison of Louisburg.
 

Witt and Young then joined Royse and Christensen to complete the meet with the Trojans’ third event victory, winning the 400-yard freestyle relay by nearly five seconds with a time of 3:13.79.
 
“After yesterday, my whole mission was about finishing the race,” Witt said of his breaststroke victory. “This week has been hard with my injury. I was going to be happy with whatever results, but I won so I’m ecstatic for that.”
 
When Andover didn’t win, it still piled up points. The Trojans scored in all 12 events and had a top-8 medal winner in all but one, the 100 backstroke. Andover had multiple medal winners in four events and placed all four of its divers in the top 10.
 
“I’d say it feels pretty similar to the other years,” said Young, who added a runner-up finish to his Wichita Swim Club teammate Dylan Patterson of Eisenhower in the 500 freestyle, and teamed with Witt, Christensen and senior Evan Gauldin to finish second to Louisburg in the 200 medley relay. “We’ve had great team bonding. It’s a great big friend group.
 
“There’s just this bond where we’re cheering each other on and helping each other in practice. Our experienced swimmers, the seniors and juniors, help freshmen with flip turns who have never swam before. It’s just this great, big happy family.”
 

Young’s winning time in the 200 individual medley was 2.75 seconds faster than the 1:56.49 he swam to win the 2025 state title. After finishing second in the breaststroke a year ago, Young was a fraction off his season-best time Saturday in the 500 free, touching the wall second in 4:43.31.
 
“Clark has goals that he sets for himself and he will always go hard to achieve those,” Biebighauser said. “He wanted to repeat in that 200 IM and he was ready for it. He pushed hard in that 500 and worked hard all season over a shoulder injury. He’s happy with how he did.”
 
After finishing second at state last year in the 500 free to record-setting Zach Mendez of Lansing, Royse, a sophomore, took fourth in the event Saturday. Still, his time of 4:44.90 was more than eight seconds ahead of his 2025 time.
 
Royse’s individual runner-up finish this year came in the 200 free, where his time of 1:44.12 trailed only Patterson.
 
Meanwhile, Christensen made a strong state debut. In addition to his relay victory and runner-up finishes, he finished second in the 50 freestyle to Louisburg’s Casey Ross-Carpenter in 21.65. He also tied Andover Central senior Tyler Voros in the 100 free in 47.89.
 
Christensen anchored the Trojans to gold in the meet-ending 400 free relay.
 
“Henry is an amazing addition to our team,” Biebighauser said. “He is exciting. He just has places to move upward.”
 
Two of Borchers’ three medals came in individual events. He finished fourth in the 200 free in 1:51.51, then added an eighth-place finish in the 100 butterfly (54.98). Borchers also teamed with Gauldin, Royse and sophomore Mitchell McCracken to place sixth in the 200 free relay (1:32.85).
 

So thorough was Andover’s depth that the Trojans’ 47 points from divers Jace Lessard, Henry Lasater, Logan Salisbury and Carter Anderson was 17 more than any other team in the field. Kapaun, which finished with 225.5 points and Louisburg, which had 205, did not have diving entries.
 
The Trojans knew another title was in hand when team scores were announced prior to the final event. But after qualifying third in the 400 relay prelims behind Kapaun and Blue Valley Southwest, Andover won the event by cutting more eight seconds from the previous day.
 
“It was a perfect way to end it,” said Witt, one of five Andover seniors on the state roster. “Not just for me today, but for my career in general.”
 
 
CLASS 5-1A STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
TEAM SCORES
 
Andover 379.5, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 225.5, Louisburg 205, Blue Valley Southwest 198, Wichita Collegiate 150, Winfield 133, Maize South 107, Piper 66, Wichita Independent 63, Andover Central 60.5, Lansing 60, Basehor-Linwood 59, Eisenhower 57, Hays 54, El Dorado 50, Bishop Carroll 47, Buhler 37, St. Thomas Aquinas 35, St. James Academy 34, De Soto 34, Bishop Miege 30, Paola 29, Hesston 28, Andale 26, Seaman 23.5, Newton 19, Wellington 18, McPherson 16, Bennington 14, Valley Center 14, Goddard 12, Great Bend 12, Circle 7, Wichita Trinity 7, Emporia 6, Southeast of Saline 4, Clearwater 2.