Diving finals and swimming prelims highlight Day 2 of state swimming

After one day of diving, the top 24 divers in 6A and 5-1A competed in the state finals for diving.

In the 6A competition, Blue Valley North's Christopher Cusick was the leader after the first round by about 20 points.

However, Blue Valley West sophomore Daniel Fecteau had a great second day and was able to pass Cusick in the standings with a score of 457.30, good for an individual state title.

"I finally did," Fecteau said. "After hours and hours of work and my coaches telling me that I could do it and me in denial and all that early mornings and everything, it finally paid off."

Zach Neuman on Olathe East finished in third with a score of 403.25

Click here for 6A Diving Results

On the 5A-1A side, Shawnee Mission South went one and two with Jackson Conrad taking the top spot with a score of 353.20 and Ali Arab finishing behind him with a score of 336.0. Emporia's Sam Johnson was third with a score of 272.85.

Click here for 5-1A Diving Results

Winfield's Brandon Pew also placed on the podium in the seventh spot with a score of 243.60. It was the senior's first trip to state.

"I'm pretty happy with it," Pew said. "I just wanted to qualify, that was it."

6A Swimming Prelims

Lucas Popp headlined the 6A swimming prelims,  breaking the state record for the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.20.

"He was ecstatic," Maize head coach Hussein Yassine said. "He was pretty excited. I think the whole place went crazy and we definitely fed off of it the rest of the meet."

Shawnee Mission South's Zack Holbrook took second with a time of 47.77 and Topeka Washburn Rural's Nick Badsky took third with a time of 48.17.

Click here to see 6A Prelim Swimming results

Popp also had a top finish in the 50-yard freestyle race. He had a time of 20.95. Wichita East's Jake Spitz came in second at 21.77 and Evan Matthews was third with a time of 21.80.

Popp, along side Chris Clemons, Grant Latimer, and Preston Barley took first in the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:27.42. Washburn Rural took second. Their team consisted of Evan Matthews, Craig Haug, Bryan Hawn, and Nick Badsky. Olathe East's Tanner Emmerson, Chuck Balkenbusch, Connor Davey and Tyler Gartenbery got third with a time f 1:28.14.

The same Maize relay team also took first in the 400-yard Freestyle relay with a time of 3:13.7. Shawnee Mission East's Jackson Granstaff, Christopher Watkins, Troy Demoss and Holbrook finished second with a time of 3:16.60. Washburn Rural took third this time with John Fritsch, Michael Prekopy, Haug and Badsky. Their time was 3:16.65.

Maize's Preston Barley also grabbed a third place finish in the 200-yard freestlye. Blue Valley Northwest's Jesse Musser finished at number one with a time of 1:41.65 and Lawrence Free State's Canaan Cambell got third with a time of 1:42.98

Wichita East also put themselves in a good position to make a run at the state title as a team. 

They had a number of first place finishes, including in the 200-yard medley relay. Brandon Shinsato, Nate Pirner, Jake Spitz and Andrew Sousa swam a 1:56.71 together. Olathe East's Gartenberg, Chuck Balkenbusch, Tanner Emerson and Connor Davey got second with a time of 1:38.03. Washburn Rural got another top three finish with Michael Prekopy, Bryan Hahn, John Fritsch, and Even Matthews. They swam a 1:39.44

Shinsato also had a top finish on his own in the 100-yard backstroke. The Junior finished with a time of 52.30. Ahead of Blue Valley's Chris Hearl's mark of 52.58 and Shawnee Mission East's DeMoss' finishe of 53.45.

Defending state-champion Nate Pirner is looking to repeat in the 100-yard breaststroke. He touched the wall at 58.29, followed by Olathe East's Balkenbusc at 59.85 and Washburn Rural's Hahn at 1:00.78.

Wichita East also finished in the top three a number of times. Nate Pirner followed Maize's Chris Clemons in the 200-yard IM. Clemons finished with a 1:55.99 and Pirner had a 1:56.46. Shawnee Mission East's Troy DeMoss finished third with 1:56.62.

Wichita East senior Jake Spitz also had a second place finish at 51.97 in the 100-yard butterfly. He followed Blue Valley's Chris Hearl who swam a 50.87. Lawrence Free State's Ben Sloan finished third in that prelim at 52.14.

East had a third place finish from Kyle Cullinan in the 500-yard freestlye. His 4:48.16 time trailed two other swimmers. Blue Valley Northwest's Jesse Musse won with a time of 4:37.09 and Lawrence Free State's Kyle Cullinan who finished in 4:38.66.

5-1A Swimming Prelims

In the 5A-1A prelims Maize South got out to a fast start. Johnathon Lavelle, Greyson Heckman, Jacob Evraets and Caleb Peterson swam a 1:40.94 in the 200-yard medley relay..

"I thought it was great," Evraets said. "We were two seconde off of the record, that's pretty good for prelims."

Wichita Collegiate's Jake Barrett, Trent Pirner, Rhys Powell and Sam Horner finished behind Maize South at 1:43.69 and Blue Valley Southwest rounded out the top three at 1:45.17.

Click here for 5-1A Prelim Swimming results

Maize South's Heckman grabbed another top finish in the 100-yard butterfly. His 52.34 time beat out Shawnee Mission South's Ryan Sweat who finished at 52.39 and Hayden's Ryan France who had a 54.40.

Lavelle got the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.59. He was followed by Shawnee Height's Kevin McGowan who had a 55.48 and Shawnee Mission South's Nicholas Caruso who was at 56.70.

Maize South's Lavelle also finished third in the 200-IM with a time of 2:04.98. He just couldn't catch Shawnee Height's Kevin McGowan who swam a 1:59.86 or St. James Academy's Heath Maginn who had a 2:00.08.

South's 200-yard relay team finished third with a 1:32.16. That team consisted of Peterson, William King, Lavelle and Heckman. Hayden's Austin Lewis, France, Michael Wangerin and John-Martin Schmidt finished first with a time of 1:30.88, and Wichita Collegiate finished second. Jake Barrett, Jack Naron, Sam Horner and Rhys Powell swam a 1:32.10 together.

Winfield's Keiser Witte broke the 50-yard freestyle record from 1998 with a time of 20.98, but he was already thinking about the finals right after the race.

"Tomorrow I'll have second place and third place right next to me, so competition will be a lot higher than prelims and I'll be a lot more amped,"  Witte said.

Maize South's Heckman finished behind him at 21.60, he was followed by Bishop Miege's Jack Wirtz at 22.12.

Witte also finished first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.92. McPherson's Derick Goodson finished second at 47.96 and Shawnee Mission South's Kenneth Bergman finished third at 48.66.

McPherson's Goodson also had top three finish in the 200-yard freestyle. He finished third with a time of 1:48.05. Schmidt for Hayden finished first at 1:44.32 and Shawnee Mission South's Ryan Sweat second at 1:46.02.

Campus' Will Smith finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:02.24. Hayden's Wangerin was second at 1:03.19 and Newton sophomore Jace Schmidt finished third at 1:04.19.

In the 500-Freestlye Hayden's Schmidt finished first again with a time of 4:48.59. His teammate France trailed him at 4:53.74 and St. James Academy's Heath Maginn finished right behind him at 4:53.81.

To finish out the night, Hayden's Austin Lewis, France, Wangerin and Schmidt swam a 3:21.79 to take first in the 400-freestyle relay. Shawnee Mission South got second with Sweat, Carter Stokes, Nicholas Caruso and Kenneth Bergman. They swam a 3:21.95. Bishop Miege was third. Ben Rucker, Mackie Merril, John Pawlewicz and Jack Wirz swam a 3:24.27.

Finals for swimming will take place on Saturday, with 6A hitting the water at 10:30am, and 5-1A taking the plunge at 3:00pm.