BV Southwest celebrates third straight girls swimming state title
Blue Valley Southwest’s domination in Kansas Class 5-1A girls swimming and diving continued on Saturday, when the Timberwolves won their third consecutive state championship at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka.
The Timberwolves won four events and cruised to a 379-178 margin over runner-up St. Thomas Aquinas in the team standings. Senior Maddie Carrigan of BV Southwest won the 100 breaststroke in 1 minute, 7.56 seconds and Isabelle Finzen added a state title in the 200 individual medley in 2 minutes, 11.20 seconds. The two also were members of the winning 200 medley relay (1:49.21) and 400 freestyle relay (3:41.50).
“I was pumped up and ready to go,” Carrigan said. “I told myself that these were the last four swims that I had in my high school career, so I went all out.”
BV Southwest led Class 5-1A with five first-team all-state selections — Finzen, Carrigan, Logan Johnsen, Madison Moore and Madison Batkiewiez. BV West’s Payton Kisinger, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Laila Carter and Bishop Miege’s Cailey Grunhard and Cassie Grunhard also achieved first-team status.
Carter, Julia Jenkins, Caroline Backs and Holly Hanson won the 200 freestyle relay and led St. Thomas Aquinas to a second-place finish. Their winning relay time was 1 minute, 40.95 seconds.
Miege’s Cailey Grunhard won the 200 individual medley, but was disqualified because of an illegal turn. Two races later, she bounced back to set a state record in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 55.35 seconds. The previous state mark was 55.50 seconds. Cailey Grunhard was named Kansas Class 5-1A swimmer of the state meet.
“I told her to go out there and show them on the 100 fly what she was made of — and she did,” Miege coach Dennis Mueller said. “She is the most technically sound swimmer I’ve seen or ever coached.”
BV West’s Kisinger also set a state meet record with a score of 477.95 points in the one-meter diving competition. The previous record was 436.70 points.
SM East second in Class 6A
Shawnee Mission East coach Rob Cole says this year’s Lancers’ squad was the fastest he has ever coached. The only problem is that Sunflower League foe Lawrence Free State was just a little bit faster.
The Lancers placed second to Lawrence Free State on Saturday at the Kansas Class 6A meet, which ended a five-year streak of state titles for SM East.
“It was a real competitive rivalry between two schools that were pushing each other for excellence,” Cole said. “It was a fun meet to watch.”
SM East picked up three individual state titles between Rilye Fries and Crissie Blomquist. Fries won the 200 individual medley in 2 minutes, 5.76 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 56.38 seconds. Blomquist was the 500 freestyle champion in 4 minutes, 57.47 seconds.
Olathe Northwest finished third to complete a Sunflower League sweep of the top three team trophies. The Ravens also finished third in the Sunflower League meet.
“If you would have asked me about this (on Friday), I would have said that there was no way it would happen,” Olathe Northwest coach Hank Krusen said. “We had kids move up and very few move down, so they earned it.”
BV North’s Annie Turner won the one-meter diving competition with a score of 445.25 points. SM Northwest’s Hailey Brull won the 100 breaststroke in 1 minute, 7.88 seconds. Both were named first-team all-state, along with SM Northwest’s Meaghan Bower and SM East’s Rilye Fries, Crissie Blomquist, Sarah Allegri and Bonnie Longan.
This story was originally published May 28, 2015 at 11:35 AM with the headline "BV Southwest celebrates third straight girls swimming state title."