BV West repeats as Kansas state swim champion; St. James star wins pair of titles

Two Kansas City area powers went down to one point to decide the Kansas Class 6A team championship in Topeka.

Blue Valley West and Olathe East battled all season, but the BV West Jaguars made it back-to-back titles in 2020 at the Capitol Federal Natatorium. Here is how:

Row the boat: BV West wins it by a point

Swimming can be cruel.

Olathe East won six of 12 events at the 2020 Kansas Class 6A state championship meet. The Hawks had two runner-up or third-place finishes and six more that came fourth or fifth.

And they lost.

Blue Valley West won its second straight boys swimming and diving team championship — the only two in its history — with a 345-344 win over Olathe East. The Jaguars had two individual title performances out of junior Kevin Glenn and eight others who finished second or third.

Depth carried the day, BV West coach Tobin Sample said.

“We talked a lot about lineup,” Sample said. “Some of these guys, maybe they weren’t the favorite in their event, but they got enough points to help the team out. It’s all a team concept. These guys embraced it and did a great job.”

BV West carried a 311-304 lead going into the final event of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Jaguars came in second to Olathe East, but the point differential wasn’t enough to tip the standings.

BV West senior Trevor Sinclair said it didn’t matter whether the Jaguars retained the title or not, he was going to love his teammates just the same.

“Four years of hard work: That’s what we all put in,” Sinclair said. “I can’t think of a better team to win it with. Just really happy we came out on top. Cherry on top.”

There were a few examples of supreme consistency out of BV West on Saturday. Glenn didn’t finish lower than second in any of his events, including the two titles in the 200-yard individual medley at 1 minute, 54.27 seconds and the 100-yard backstroke at 50.26 seconds after breaking the 6A state record in the prelims at 49.68.

Senior Chase Lane didn’t finish lower or higher than second. Neither did junior Hunter Rey, who competed in four events, including the anchor leg of the 400 free relay.

Rey came to BV West by way of a transfer from Maize South, where he earned All-Metro honors from the Wichita Eagle in the 200 free. Sinclair said he wasn’t sure whether Rey was coming until he saw him show up at practice.

His points were pivotal Saturday.

“He came in at the winter break, and he has been great,” Sample said. “He is a hard worker, and he just kind of jelled. The team embraced him, and he did a great job for us today.”

Sinclair is one of four seniors who won’t return to seek a three-peat in 2021. He said that though he won’t be there, the team’s motto of “Row the boat” will live on.

“We keep the energy rolling, and we never think we’re too good for anybody,” Sinclair said. “We’ve been in places where we get beat every single day. As long as those guys remember that, they’ll be fine. Don’t remember this. Championships are great, and I think we need to live in this right now, but next season, we got to get back to work.”

Thunderstruck: St. James’ Amrein breaks state record

John Amrein came into Saturday’s state swim meet with his eye on another record.

On Friday, St. James Academy’s Amrein set a Kansas high school Class 5-1A state record in the 100-yard breaststroke, swimming a time of 55.78 seconds in the preliminaries. He came up just short of that mark in Saturday’s championship final, but his 56.04 effort was still good enough to win his second individual title of the day by almost 3.5 seconds.

Last year, Bishop Miege’s Lex Hernandez-Nietling set a new state record in this event — 56.08 seconds. His mark lasted 365 days. Amrein finished second in that race last season and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle last season.

This year, Amrein won the 100-yard breaststroke after starting the day with a win in the 200-yard individual medley (1:53.13), almost five seconds ahead of the field. He said the 200 IM is the best indicator of a complete swimmer.

“You have every stroke in that event, and it just proves the dedication and the yards and the yards that go into this,” Amrein said. “I think that event really shows who you are as a swimmer. It’s hard. It’s long, tiring, but really worth it in the end.”

Amrein was the anchor in St. James’ sixth-place team finish with 138 points, just four away from the top five. It marked the fifth straight year St. James has finished in the top 10 of the 5-1A team standings. He was also the anchor leg to the Thunder’s third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:30.49.

The junior’s other race came in the opening event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay. He placed third and helped St. James to a fourth-place finish at 1:42.78.

“I’m really, really proud of my teammates and how we’ve come together and grown,” Amrein said. “We push each other over and over, and we really look forward to these meets because we usually bond and grow even stronger relationships.”

St. James didn’t have any other top-five finishers in Saturday’s individual events, but its depth showed in the relays. The Thunder was the highest team finisher out of the Kansas City area in 5-1A this year, beating Blue Valley Southwest by 28 points.

“I’m just so blessed to win so many medals in this amazing gift of a life,” Amrein said.

Class 6A results

Team standings

1. Blue Valley West, 345
2. Olathe East, 344
3. Shawnee Mission East, 191
4. Blue Valley North, 186
5. Free State, 160
6. Wichita East, 152
7. Washburn Rural, 121
8. Shawnee Mission North, 108
9. Olathe Northwest, 100
10. Blue Valley Northwest, 84

Diving

1. Will Frankel, Shawnee Mission West, Sr., 464.60
2. Elliott Ahlvers, Free State, Fr., 390.45
3. Spencer Eyen, Blue Valley North, So., 384.30
4. Jacob Held, Shawnee Mission South, Sr., 384.05
5. Hunter Cooper, Shawnee Mission East, Sr., 383.95
6. Zeke Kohl, Manhattan, So., 371.50
7. Carson Kinsch, Olathe East, So., 370.45
8. Daniel Bernal, Wichita North, Fr., 370.00

200-yard medley relay

1. Olathe East (Aidan Walters, Sr.; Philip Costello, Sr.; Micah Leslie, So.; Jack Gabrielson, Sr.), 1:34.16
2. Blue Valley West (Kevin Glenn, Jr.; Chase Lane, Sr.; Jason Garlett, Sr.; Philip Dailey, Sr.), 1:34.95
3. Blue Valley North (Richie Stewart, Sr.; Joe Campagnuolo, Sr.; Will Shertenlieb, Jr.; Sean North, Sr.), 1:36.59
4. Free State (Alexander Moore, So.; Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Jr.; Reilley Moore, Jr.; Brady Flynn, Jr.), 1:37.59
5. Shawnee Mission East (James Schipfer, So.; Michael McAlister, Sr.; Werner Burundige, Sr.; Andrew Fey, Jr.), 1:37.87
6. Blue Valley Northwest (Caleb Musser, Jr.; Joshua Li, Jr.; Evan Clark, So.; Logan Beaman, Sr.), 1:41.82
7. Wichita Heights (Gus Denneler, Sr.; Javan Titus, So.; Evan Jensen, Jr.; Austin Russell, Sr.), 1:41.92
8. Olathe South (Logan Smith, Fr.; Ian Wiley, Sr.; Sam Stoeck, Jr.; Mac Clemmons, Jr.), 1:41.93

200-yard freestyle

1. Harry Tjaden, Olathe East, Sr., 1:41.75
2. Hunter Rey, Blue Valley West, Jr., 1:43.14
3. Aidan Walters, Olathe East, Sr., 1:43.99
4. Keaton Kristoff, Olathe East, So., 1:45.24
5. Trey Smith, Shawnee Mission North, Sr., 1:45.49
6. Trevor Sinclair, Blue Valley West, Sr., 1:45.94
7. Sam Pankratz, Blue Valley West, Jr., 1:46.05
8. Sam Foster, Blue Valley West, Jr., 1:47.82

200-yard individual medley

1. Kevin Glenn, Blue Valley West, Jr., 1:54.27
2. Reilley Moore, Free State, Jr., 1:55.99
3. Philip Costello, Olathe East, Sr., 1:56.17
4. Richie Stewart, Blue Valley North, 1:58.06
5. Jason Ooten, Wichita East, Sr., 1:59.39
6. Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Free State, Jr., 2:00.49
7. Jack Gabrielson, Olathe East, Sr., 2:00.80
8. James Schipfer, Shawnee Mission East, So., 2:01.75

50-yard freestyle

1. Drayden Bell, Wichita East, So., 20.53
2. Sean North, Blue Valley North, Sr., 20.75
3. Caleb Mussser, Blue Valley Northwest, Jr., 20.81
4. Scott Klein, Shawnee Mission Northwest, 20.93
5. Micah Leslie, Olthe East, So., 21.42
6. Andrew Fey, Shawnee Mission East, Jr., 22.07
7. Dagen Clouse, Washburn Rural, 22.10
8. Anthony Molinaro, Mill Valley, Fr., 22.43

100-yard butterfly

1. Reilley Moore, Free State, Jr., 49.62
2. Hunter Rey, Blue Valley West, Jr., 51.01
3. Richie Stewart, Blue Valley North, Sr., 51.49
4. Micah Leslie, Olathe East, So., 52.12
5. Jason Garlett, Blue Valley West, Sr., 52.56
6. Trey Smith, Shawnee Mission North, Sr., 52.86
7. Jordan Weve, Derby, 53.84
8. Will Shertenlieb, Blue Valley North, Jr., 54.67

100-yard freestyle

1. Drayden Bell, Wichita East, So., 45.69
2. Sean North, Blue Valley North, Sr., 46.26
3. Caleb Musser, Blue Valley Northwest, Jr., 46.37
4. Scott Klein, Shawnee Mission Northwest, Sr., 47.53
5. Colby Beggs, Mill Valley, Sr., 48.83
6. Ian Wiley, Olathe South, Sr., 48.97
7. Bo Kimmel, Shawnee Mission East, 49.53
8. Finn VanDyke, Free State, Jr., 49.77

500-yard freestyle

1. Harry Tjaden, Olathe East, Sr., 4:35.83
2. Sam Foster, Blue Valley West, Jr., 4:43.06
3. Sam Pankratz, Blue Valley West, Jr., 4:49.00
4. Trevor Sinclair, Blue Valley West, Sr., 4:49.17
5. Keaton Kristoff, Olathe East, So., 4:50.98
6. Kristopher Fritsch, Washburn Rural, Sr., 4:54.89
7. Brendon Chadd, Campus, Jr., 4:59.21
8. Tyler Jones, Lawrence, Jr., 5:01.26
   
   

200-yard freestyle relay

1. Olathe East (Jack Gabrielson, Sr.; Luke Hagan, Jr.; Harry Tjaden, Sr.; Micach Leslie, So.), 1:26.90
2. Blue Valley West (Trevor Sinclair, Sr.; Philip Dailey, Sr.; Sam Foster, Jr.; Hunter Rey, Jr.), 1:27.05
3. Blue Valley North (Sean North, Sr.; Alexander Houts, So.; Colin Gaebler, Jr.; Richie Stewart, Sr.), 1:27.23
4. Wichita East (Jason Ooten, Sr.; Cooper Cole, Jr.; Kendrick Pham, Sr.; Drayden Bell, So.), 1:28.03
5. Free State (Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Jr.; Matthew Reimer, Jr.; Brady Flynn, Jr.; Reilley Moore, Jr.), 1:28.94
6. Shawnee Mission East (Bo Kimmel, So.; Sean Battey, Sr.; Walter Honnold, Sr.; Andrew Fey, Jr.), 1:29.38
7. Shawnee Mission North (Trey Smith, Sr.; Harden Bodt, Sr.; Cameron Lee, So.; Junior Lopez, Fr.), 1:30.18
8. Shawnee Mission Northwest (Alex Savinkov, So.; Brian Harrell, Jr.; Scott Klein, Sr.; Alex Duewel, Jr.), 1:30.41

100-yard backstroke

1. Kevin Glenn, Blue Valley West, Jr., 50.26
2. Aidan Walters, Olathe East, Sr., 51.82
3. Isaac Hadorn, Wichita North, Sr., 52.49
4. James Schipfer, Shawnee Mission East, So., 53.61
5. Kyler Lamb, Washburn Rural, Sr., 53.83
6. Harrison Mallory, Olathe Northwest, Sr., 54.54
7. Lucas Laufer, Wichita East, Jr., 55.72
8. Werner Burundige, Shawnee Mission East, Sr., 55.96

100-yard breaststroke

1. Philip Costello, Olathe East, Sr., 56.62
2. Chase Lane, Blue Valley West, Sr., 57.89
3. Jason ooten, Wichita East, Sr., 59.37
4. Philip Dailey, Blue Valley West, Sr., 59.51
5. Jack Gabrielson, Olathe East, Sr., 59.63
6. Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Free State, Jr., 1:00.48
7. Ian Wiley, Olathe South, Sr., 1:00.89
8. Owen Krussow, Shawnee Mission South, Jr., 1:01.02

400-yard freestyle relay

1. Olathe East (Keaton Kristoff, So.; Harry Tjaden, Sr.; Aidan Walters, Sr.; Philip Costello, Sr.), 3:08.92
2. Blue Valley West (Trevor Sinclair, Sr.; Sam Pankratz, Jr.; Kevin Glenn, Jr.; Hunter Rey, Jr.), 3:09.26
3. Wichita East (Cooper Cole, Jr.; Kendrick Pham, Sr.; Jason Ooten, Sr.; Drayden Bell, So.), 3:15.91
4. Washburn Rural (Dagen Clouse, So.; Kristopher Fritsch, Sr.; Nathen Trachta, So.; Kyler Lamb, Sr.), 3:17.10
5. Shawnee Mission North (Cameron Lee, So.; Ryan McMillin, Sr.; Junior Lopez, Fr.; Trey Smith, Sr.), 3:19.31
6. Shawnee Mission East (Bo Kimmel, So.; Andrew Fey, Jr.; Walter Honnold, Sr.; James Schipfer, So.), 3:20.69
7. Blue Valley Northwest (Evan Clark, So.; Joshua Li, Jr.; Logan Beaman, Sr.; Caleb Musser, Jr.), 3:21.71
8. Olathe Northwest (Ashton Weaver, Sr.; Andrew Evans, So.; Daniel Wheatman, Sr.; Harrison Mallory, Sr.), 3:22.59

This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 3:20 PM with the headline "BV West repeats as Kansas state swim champion; St. James star wins pair of titles."

Hayden Barber

The Wichita Eagle

316-269-6760

Wichita Eagle preps reporter Hayden Barber brings the area updates on all high school sports while adding those hard-to-find human-interest stories on Wichita’s student-athletes.