Five things to watch at Kansas high school girls swimming and diving state meet

The Kansas Class 6A and 5-1A girls swimming and diving state meet began with diving preliminaries on Thursday night and continues on Friday and Saturday at the Topeka-Capitol Federal Natatorium. All finals are scheduled for Saturday. Here are five storylines to monitor at the meet.

1. The heavyweights

Lawrence Free State ended Shawnee Mission East’s five-year Class 6A state title streak last year, and there is no love lost between them. The two schools have combined to win every team state championship since 2009, and it will likely be a similar race for this year’s team state title. Last year, Free State edged SM East in all three relay events (200-yard freestyle, 400 freestyle and 200 medley). Two of those wins came by less than 1 second over second-place SM East. Entering this year’s state meet, SM East is the No. 1 seed in the same three relays. All those second-place finishes are sure to be fresh in the minds of the Lancers this weekend.

2. Blomquist vs Campbell

The SM East-Free State competition extends to the individual level, too. SM East junior Crissie Blomquist is the favorite in both the 200-yard freestyle and 500 freestyle. Last year, Blomquist barely beat Free State’s Cierra Campbell in the 500 free race, then lost to her in the shorter distance. With Campbell as the No. 2 seed in both races this year, the outcome will likely come down to these two once again.

3. Record-setter Grunhard ready to do it again

At the Class 5-1A level, Bishop Miege junior Cailey Grunhard is potentially on pace to break her own state record. She won last year’s 100-yard butterfly in 55.35 seconds, a new best in the state. But this year, her seed time for the same race (54.28) would be even faster, if she can swim at the same pace in the finals. Grunhard, who has committed to Notre Dame, will also compete in the 100 backstroke, where her seed time is less than 1 second away from the state record.

4. Defending champ competing in different events

Defending Class 6A 100-yard breaststroke champion Hailey Brull of Shawnee Mission Northwest won’t be repeating this year. She’ll instead compete in the 200 individual medley, for which she has the second-best seed time, and the 100 butterfly, where she placed third last season.

5. BV Southwest going for fourth title

Blue Valley Southwest’s Isabelle Finzen, the 200-yard individual medley defending champion in Class 5-1A, is this year’s No. 1 seed as a senior. Fellow senior Becca Gregory is the top-seeded 1-meter diver. The two could help BV Southwest continue its recent streak of dominance and earn a fourth straight team state title. BV Southwest won the 2015 team state title with more than twice as many points as second-place St. Thomas Aquinas.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Five things to watch at Kansas high school girls swimming and diving state meet."