Lexington swimmers and divers among top qualifiers for final round of state championships
The fields have been set for next week’s Final Round of the KHSAA State Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Kentucky.
Swimmers across the state competed Saturday in three satellite “State First Round” sites with Lexington-area schools among the three regions assigned to Scott High School in Taylor Mill.
Qualifiers for the final round included Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Kennedy Brooks and Lexington Catholic’s Mia Jones, who each won two first-round events.
Jones took the 200-yard individual medley in 2:03.98 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:04.68, the second and third fastest times, respectively, across all the First Round competitions, according to the girls final-round qualifiers list.
Brooks won the 50 freestyle in 29.34, the second-fastest overall time statewide, and claimed the 100-yard backstroke in 55.78, fourth-fastest in the state.
Henry Clay’s boys relay team of Nick Johnson, Hayes Doolin, Jack Liau and Charlie Kidder won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:36.08 and the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:13.53, third-best in both events statewide.
The Lafayette girls relay team of Riley Shaw, Lauren Wedeking, Myla Phelps and Lydia Dever won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:50.59, the second-fastest overall time.
Other Lexington event winners Saturday included Sayre’s Max Yeoh in boys 200 individual medley, Henry Clay’s Liau in the boys 100 butterfly, Lafayette’s Isaac Barrow in boys 100 backstroke and Lexington Catholic’s Caroline Beiting in the girls 100 freestyle.
This is the second year the Kentucky High School Athletic Association has split its state championship swimming events into two rounds of competition to further narrow the field due to overcrowding concerns at its Final Round site, UK’s Lancaster Aquatic Center.
State qualifiers from each region championship competition advanced to one of three first-round sites — Bowling Green High School for Regions 1-3, the University of Louisville for Regions 4-6, and Scott for Regions 7-9, which includes Region 8 and Lexington’s schools.
The top three finishers in each event at each State First Round site automatically qualified for the State Final Round to be held Feb. 21 and 22 at UK. The rest of the State Final Round fields were filled by the best 15 qualifying times statewide.
The state diving competition was not split into rounds. Diving’s boys and girls state championships will be held Feb. 20 at UK.
Lexington has three of the top four seeds in boys 1-meter diving, led by Lexington Catholic’s Graham Leslie and Bryan Station’s Tyler Bobadilla, who rank first and second, respectively. Henry Clay’s Jonah Kearns is the fourth seed. On the girls side, Lexington Catholic’s Sydney Leslie is the top seed with Henry Clay’s Claire Nicholas seeded third.
STATE FIRST ROUND SWIMMING
At Scott High School, Taylor Mill.
Listed: State Final Round qualifiers from Scott site. (Top three, plus other Lexington qualifiers based on statewide times.) Complete results and final round qualifying lists are online at khsaa.org/sports-sport-activities/winter/swimming/.
BOYS EVENTS
200-yard medley relay: 1. Henry Clay (Nick Johnson, Hayes Doolin, Jack Liau, Charlie Kidder) 1:36.08; 2. Highlands (Luke Deegan, Matthew Meyers, Grif Barlow, Chanith Abeysinghe) 1:37.37; 3. Ryle (Chase Knopf, Addison Coughenour, Garrett Dennis, Lucas Dilger) 1:39.14. Other qualifiers: Lafayette, 1:39.20; Lexington Catholic, 1:43.57; Dunbar, 1:43.58; Frederick Douglass, 1:45.62.
200-yard freestyle: 1. Cono Presti, Beechwood, 1:42.93; 2. Chase Knopf, Ryle, 1.43.50; 3. Charlie Kidder, Henry Clay, 1:43.71. Other qualifiers: Henry Gish, Henry Clay, 1:50.28.
200-yard IM: 1. Max Yeoh, Sayre, 1.54.84; 2. Jimmy Rogers, Lafayette, 1:56.67; Nash Parsons, Ryle, 1:57.55. Other qualifiers: Daniel Liew, Dunbar, 2:00.10.
50-yard freestyle: 1. Andy Pleiman,Ryle, 21.10; 2. Isaac Barrow, Lafayette, 21.41; 3. Wil Jones, Lexington Catholic, 21.45. Other qualifiers: William Naehr, Dunbar, 22.40; James Barnett, Lexington Catholic, 23.32; Blake Salyer, Dunbar, 23.43.
100-yard butterfly: 1. Jack Liau, Henry Clay, 51.63; 2. Noah Gracey, Highlands, 52.09; 3. Ty Dropic, Villa Madonna, 52.57. Other qualifiers: Hayes Doolin, Henry Clay, 53.12; Thomas Yuan, Dunbar, 54.31.
100-yard freestyle: 1. Andy Pleiman, Ryle, 47.14; 2. Nick Johnson, Henry Clay, 47.15; 3. Nash Parsons, Ryle, 47.62.
500-yard freestyle: 1. Chase Knopf, Ryle, 4:34.82; 2. Cono Presti, Beechwood, 4:34.85; 3. Griffin Barlow, Highlands, 4:39.85. Other qualifiers: Max Yeoh, Sayre, 4:45.36; Charlie Kidder, Henry Clay, 4:46.45; Henry Gish, Henry Clay, 4:57.64.
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Ryle (Nash Parsons, Andy Pleiman, Lucas Dilger, Chase Knopf) 1:28.46; 2. Highlands (Charlie Golden, Noah Gracey, Charlie Herfel, Chanith Abeysinghe) 1:29.18; 3. Madison Central (Kaiden Graves, Sawyer Wilson, Colin Lair, Carson Neal) 1:30.44. Other qualifiers: Dunbar, 1:32.24; Lafayette, 1:32.72; Tates Creek, 1:33.20; Lexington Catholic, 1:34.17; Frederick Douglass, 1:34.78.
100-yard backstroke: 1. Isaac Barrow, Lafayette, 50.82; 2. Nick Johnson, Henry Clay, 52.10; 3. Luke Deegan, Highlands, 52.81. Other qualifiers: John Kennedy, Tates Creek, 53.49.
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Griffin Barlow, Highlands, 55.68; 2. Jimmy Rogers, Lafayette, 56.87; 3. Noah Gracey, Highlands, 58.09. Other qualifiers: Wil Jones, Lexington Catholic, 59.12; Hayes Doolin, Henry Clay, 59.33; Jack Liau, Henry Clay, 59.67; Daniel Liew, Dunbar, 1:00.06.
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Henry Clay (Charlie Kidder, Nick Johnson, Jack Liau, Hayes Doolin) 3:13.53; 2. Highlands (Charlie Herfel, Luke Deegan, Noah Gracey, Griffin Barlow) 3:15.63; 3. Ryle (Nash Parsons, Garrett Dennis, Gavin Koeniogsknecht, Andy Pleiman) 3:21.05. Other qualifiers: Lexington Catholic, 3:24.22; Tates Creek, 3:25.47; Dunbar, 3:26.54.
GIRLS EVENTS
200-yard medley relay: 1. Lafayette (Riley Shaw, Lauren Wedeking, Myla Phelps, Lydia Dever) 1:50.59; 2. Notre Dame (Abby Carnes, Reaghan Connelly, McKenna Bien, Clare Herfel) 1:50.97; 3. Madison Central (Marley Cooksey, Angelena Brown, Emma McDowell, Sydnee Willams) 1:51.49. Other qualifiers: Lexington Catholic, 1:52.14; Dunbar, 1:54.99; Bryan Station, 1:56.36; Tates Creek, 1:58.76.
200-yard freestyle: 1. Clare Herfel, Notre Dame, 1:51.58; 2. Marlee Cooksey, Madison Central, 1:51.66; 3. Sadi Hartig, Notre Dame, 1:51.78. Other qualifiers: Lauren Wedeking, Lafayette, 1:52.28; Amelia Jones, Dunbar, 1:55.68; Avery Hutchison, Lafayette, 2:00.24; Duncan Hornback, Dunbar, 2:02.84.
200-yard IM: 1. Mia Jones, Lexington Catholic, 2:03.98; 2. Reese Yauger, Ryle, 2:07.36; 3. Gabriella Stephens, Ryle, 2:09.06. Other qualifiers: Riley Shaw, Lafayette, 2:12.55.
50-yard freestyle: 1. Kennedy Brooks, Dunbar, 29.34; 2. Caroline Beiting, Lexington Catholic, 23.99; 3. Ragan Moore, Highlands, 24.89. Other qualifiers: Myla Phelps, Lafayette, 24.96.
100-yard butterfly: 1. Reese Yauger, Ryle, 57.08; 2. Angelena Brown, Madison Central, 57.77; 3. Ryan Argo, Beechwood, 58.17. Other qualifiers: Max Reynolds, Bryan Station, 59.51; Lauren Cox, Lexington Christian, 59.86.
100-yard freestyle: 1. Caroline Beiting, Lexington Catholic, 52.23; 2. Ragan Moore, Highlands, 53.85; 3. Keira Kobida, Highlands, 54.29. Other qualifiers: Myla Phelps, Lafayette, 54.86; Avery Hutchison, Lafayette, 55.41; Emmalyn Morrison, Tates Creek, 55.61.
500-yard freestyle: 1. Clare Herfel, Notre Dame, 4:57.88; 2. Sadie Hartig, Notre Dame, 5:01.48; 3. Lauren Wedeking, Lafayette, 5:02.97. Other qualifiers: Amelia Jones, Dunbar, 5:09.23; Duncan Hornback, Dunbar, 5:19.90; Mallory Jones, Dunbar, 5:25.39.
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Notre Dame (Peyton Quinn, Liv Wallace, McKenna Bien, Abby Carnes) 1:40.40; 2. Lexington Catholic (Mia Jones, Sydney Leslie, Clara Jane Morton, Caroline Beiting) 1:40.92; 2. Madison Central (Marlee Cooksey, Angelena Brown, Emma McDowell, Sydnee Willams) 1:40.92. Other qualifiers: Lafayette, 1:41.70; Dunbar, 1:44.36; Lexington Christian, 1:46.88; Frederick Douglass, 1:47.46.
100-yard backstroke: 1. Kennedy Brooks, Dunbar, 55.78; 2. Marlee Cooksey, Madison Central, 57.07; 3. Abby Carnes, Notre Dame, 58.31. Other qualifiers: Riley Shaw, Lafayette, 59.55; Max Reynolds, Bryan Station, 1:00.12; Kate O’Brien, Frederick Douglass, 1:01.66.
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Mia Jones, Lexington Catholic, 1:04.68; 2. Addi Johnson, Dixie Heights, 1:06.45; 3. Gabriella Stephens, Ryle, 1:07.52. Other qualifiers: Lauren Cox, Lexington Christian, 1:07.54; Ava Greinki, Henry Clay, 1:10.38.
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Notre Dame (Clare Herfel, Liv Wallace, Danaka Tucker, Sadie Hartig) 3:36.26; 2. Beechwood (Ryon Argo, Maddie Staley, Gabrielle Lee, Mckynlee Townsend) 3:39.53; 3. Dunbar (Amelia Jones, Mallory Jones, Duncan Hornback, Kennedy Brooks) 3:40.63. Other qualifiers: Lafayette, 3:43.37; Tates Creek, 3:53.92.
