Lafayette, Dunbar girls grab wins at 2026 KHSAA state swimming championships

It didn’t take long for Lauren Wedeking to make a mark Saturday night during the KHSAA state swimming championships.

Wedeking, a junior at Lafayette, won the day’s first individual race, the 200-yard freestyle, with a time of 1:48.43 to notch the first top finish among all boys and girls swimmers competing for Lexington schools in this year’s event.

Wedeking added a first-place medal in the 100 freestyle later in the evening, edging Sacred Heart’s Ava Grazziani and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s Kennedy Brooks with a time of 50.66.

“It feels great to be a General and represent this team,” said Wedeking, who also swam for Lafayette’s fourth-place finishers in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. “I love the team.”

Brooks, a freshman, was the only other Lexington swimmer to walk away with a championship in hand; she swam the 50 freestyle in 23.37 to win that race by .40 seconds over Assumption junior Kinley Jones.

In addition to not being too far behind Wedeking in the 100 freestyle, Brooks anchored Dunbar’s podium finishers in the 200 and 400 relays.

“I came into (the 50 freestyle) and made sure to do some extra warm-up to feel ready,” Brooks said. “I executed how me and my coach talked about it, and it felt really good. I want to just keep building, get faster and come in stronger next year.”

Lexington’s boys went without a victory in their 11 swim events, all contested Friday at the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center. Wil Jones, a senior at Lexington Catholic, came the closest; he swam runner-up in the 100 freestyle and third in the 50 freestyle.

Jones’ time in the 50, 20.71, was just .06 seconds behind winner and club teammate Clark Coyle, a Boyle County senior who embraced Jones from the adjacent lane not long after the times were posted.

“It was crazy,” said Coyle, who’s headed to Texas A&M to swim. “It makes it even sweeter, how close it was. That wasn’t my best time, but that’s probably the happiest I’ve ever been after a race.

“From my freshman year, I’ve been third multiple times, I’ve been second multiple times, and finally my senior year I got that state championship.”

Mia Jones, Wil’s younger sister, also challenged for multiple titles. She finished runner-up in the individual medley and third in the 100 breaststroke Saturday.

“It was around where I thought I’d be,” Mia said. “In the 200 IM I wanted to drop (my time) a bit, and in the breast I would have liked to get second, but that wasn’t bad.”

Other Lexington swimming notables

Bryan Station’s girls and Tates Creek’s boys — neither program a fixture at the state meet — left with several medals this weekend.

On Friday night, a quartet of Commodores — Griffin Dicken, Drew Harris, Landon Bates and John Kennedy — placed fifth and sixth in the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay, respectively. Kennedy also earned an eighth-place medal in the 100 backstroke.

“It wasn’t a very good race; I slipped up on my walls,” said Kennedy, a sophomore. “I’ll win next year.”

That elicited an “oh” face from Bates, the lone senior among them. He noted that Tates Creek’s time in the 200 freestyle relay preliminary round, 1:27.40, was a new school record in the event.

Bryan Station’s girls were on the podium from the jump, finishing second only to Sacred Heart in the 200 individual medley relay to open the meet. Max Reynolds, a sophomore and the only actual high schooler in that Defender foursome, later placed third (100 backstroke) and eighth (100 butterfly) in individual events.

In the backstroke, the only swimmers who finished in front of her were seniors. She’s looking forward to another go-around, and potentially even better results, in 2027.

“The environment here is so supportive,” Reynolds said. “It’s a great experience. I had a little bit of a rough time last year, mentally, so being able to be here and swim for the fun of it, and get to swim with all of these girls right here? It’s awesome.”

One of Reynolds’ teammates in the relay was seventh-grader Maya Wedeking, the younger sister of Lafayette’s Lauren Wedeking. Maya attends Leestown Middle School, which is part of Bryan Station’s district. (Lauren is part of the engineering program at Lafayette.)

Tennessee swimming signee crushes competition

St. Xavier and Sacred Heart continued their ongoing dominance in the KHSAA’s pools. The Tigers won their 38th straight boys title and the Valkyries got their 14th consecutive one.

It was the final high school competition for Sacred Heart’s Charlotte Crush, a senior who’s signed with Tennessee. She entered the meet with individual KHSAA records in the 100 backstroke and butterfly (she was also part of the school’s record-holding 200-yard relay team in 2024).

While she didn’t eclipse any of her own existing records, Crush capped her prep career by setting a new meet-record time in the 100 freestyle — 48.23 — while kicking off the Valkyries’ dominant swim in the 400 freestyle relay, the meet’s final event. The 100 freestyle’s previous record time was 48.85.

“I had some ups and downs this whole weekend, but I think it’s important to show up when you need to, like for a relay,” said Crush, considered the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2026. “That’s my favorite time to show up, is on relays.”

She was also the starter for Sacred Heart’s 200 medley relay winner and defended titles in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke before her record-setting finish. Next up: college and a potential run for a spot on the 2028 U.S. Olympic team.

“I would say I’m a Valkyrie swim-and-dive swammer, but you’re always a Valkyrie once you are a Valkyrie,” Crush said.

Highlands edged Eastern for the “combined” team title, which is awarded to schools who have both boys and girls teams by the sport’s coaches association.

2026 KHSAA State Swimming Championships results

At the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center on Feb. 20-21. Top three medalists and other championship finalists from Lexington.

Boys results

Top 10 teams (and Lexington finishes): 1. St. Xavier 489; 2. Eastern 181; 3. Ryle 175; 4. Highlands 139.5; 5. Manual 121.5; t6. South Warren 104; t6. Trinity 104; 8. Boyle County 103; 9. Covington Catholic 87; 10. Tates Creek 71; 11. Lexington Catholic 65; 16. Paul Laurence Dunbar 47; 18. Henry Clay 34; 31. Sayre 7; 33. Lafayette 6.

200-yard medley relay: 1. St. Xavier (Quinn Moter, Wilson York, Boone Wilcox, Bishop DeZarn) 1:30.00; 2. Eastern (Logan Brown, Paxton Boyd, Levi Weis, Jake Blanford) 1:34.65; t3. Boyle County (Clark Coyle, Evan Perry, Beau Bostick, Anders Petkus) 1:34.73; t3. Manual (Hayden Beckley, George Deal, Harrison Li, Forrest Thompson) 1:34.73;

200 freestyle: 1. Chase Knopf, Ryle, 1:37.76; 2. Carter Rankin, St. Xavier, 1:39.83; 3. Owen Durham, St. Xavier, 1:40.42; 5. Charlie Kidder, Henry Clay, 1:41.38

200 individual medley: 1. Wilson York, St. Xavier, 1:47.29; 2. Peyton Harrison, St. Xavier, 1:49.46; 3. Hampton Stuecker, Trinity, 1:49.66

50 freestyle: 1. Clark Coyle, Boyle County, 20.65; 2. Kellie Tobergte, Murray, 20.68; 3. Wil Jones, Lexington Catholic, 20.71;

100 butterfly: 1. Boone Wilcox, St. Xavier, 47.71; 2. Tucker Bailey, Oldham County, 48.68; 3. Clark Coyle, Boyle County, 49.34

100 freestyle: 1. Lincoln Hofmann, Collegiate, 43.67; 2. Wil Jones, Lexington Catholic, 45.64; 3. Peyton Harrison, St. Xavier, 45.73

500 freestyle: 1. Chase Knopf, Ryle, 4:24.97; 2. Cono Presti, Beechwood, 4:30.28; 3. Hampton Stuecker, Trinity, 4:31.58; 8. Charlie Kidder, Henry Clay, 4:43.02

200 freestyle relay: 1. St. Xavier (Blaise Harrison, Owen Durham, Carter Rankin, Bishop DeZarn) 1:23.98; 2. Eastern (Bill McMinn, Paxton Boyd, Ryan Dovell, Jake Blanford) 1:24.02; 3. Ryle (Nash Parsons, Tyler Rice, Addison Coughenour, Chase Knopf) 1:25.95; 5. Tates Creek (John Kennedy, Drew Harris, Landon Bates, Griffin Dicken) 1:27.98

100 backstroke: 1. Lincoln Hoffman, Collegiate, 48.34; 2. Hudson Theuer, St. Xavier, 49.15; 3. Tucker Bailey, Oldham County, 49.26; 8. John Kennedy, Tates Creek, 52.68

100 breaststroke: 1. Wilson York, St. Xavier, 54.29; 2. Owen Durham, St. Xavier, 55.20; 3. Ryan Kang, St. Xavier, 57.44

400 freestyle relay: 1. St. Xavier (Boone Wilcox, Carter Rankin, Owen Durham, Peyton Harrison) 3:03.66; 2. Manual (Hayden Beckley, Harrison Lie, George Deal, Forrest Thompson) 3:12.60; 3. South Warren (Logan Roner, Lari Skeric, Kenan Aganovic, Brian Bosse) 3:14.00; 6. Tates Creek (Griffin Dicken, Drew Harris, Landon Bates, John Kennedy) 3:17.41

Girls results

Top 10 teams (and Lexington finishes): 1. Sacred Heart 440.5; 2. Notre Dame 236; 3. Assumption 198; 4. Highlands 133; 5. Lafayette 131; 6. Manual 112; 7. Ryle 90; 8. Bryan Station 89; 9. Madison Central 88; 10. Eastern 87; 11. Paul Laurence Dunbar 82; 13. Lexington Catholic 64; 24. Henry Clay 21; t30. Lexington Christian Academy 7

200-yard medley relay: 1. Sacred Heart (Charlotte Crush, Sydney Green, Ava Grazziani, Madeline Peyton) 1:42.21; 2. Bryan Station (Max Reynolds, Jolene Wong, Jameelah El-Amin, Maya Wedeking) 1:47.31; 3. Assumption (Mallie Whiteley, Parker Russell, Sydney Pyles, Kinley Jones) 1:47.50

200 freestyle: 1. Lauren Wedeking, Lafayette, 1:48.43; Ava Grazziani, Sacred Heart, 1:49.47; 3. Clare Herfel, Notre Dame, 1:49.72

200 individual medley: 1. Kate Braeger, Christian Academy of Louisville, 2:00.12; 2. Mia Jones, Lexington Catholic, 2:02.67; 3. Sydney Green, Sacred Heart, 2:04.39’

50 freestyle: 1. Kennedy Brooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 23.37; 2. Kinley Jones, Assumption, 23.77; 3. Cora Akridge, Eastern, 24.24; 4. Myla Phelps, Lafayette, 24.43

100 butterfly: 1. Charlotte Crush, Sacred Heart, 51.05; 2. Amelia Lee, West Jessamine, 55.07; 3. Linnea Shapero, Manual, 56.19; 8. Max Reynolds, Bryan Station, 57.51

100 freestyle: 1. Lauren Wedeking, Lafayette, 50.66; 2. Ava Grazziani, Sacred Heart, 51.42; 3. Kennedy Brooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 51.48

500 freestyle: 1. Clare Herfel, Notre Dame, 4:51.44; 2. Marlee Cooksey, Madison Central, 5:00.87; 3. Danaka Tucker, Notre Dame, 5:02.69

200 freestyle relay: 1. Sacred Heart (Greta Kahler, Maddie Flowers, Madeline Garrison, Madeline Peyton) 1:38.43; 2. Manual (Linnea Shapero, Jamie Lewis, Clara Pardon, Lana Shapero), 1:39.17; 3. Highlands (Taryn Ripley, Keira Kobida, Ella Kate Reynolds, Ragan Moore) 1:39.24; 4. Lafayette (Myla Phelps, Lauren Wedeking, Avery Hutchison, Lucie McCaffrey); 7. Paul Laurence Dunbar (Mallory Jones, Duncan Hornback, Emery Hourigan, Kennedy Brooks) 1:42.17

100 backstroke: 1. Charlotte Crush, Sacred Heart, 51.05; 2. Kate Braeger, Christian Academy of Louisville, 54.17; 3. Max Reynolds, Bryan Station, 55.28

100 breaststroke: 1. Sydney Green, Sacred Heart, 1:03.92; 2. Kinsley Ramey, South Oldham, 1:04.15; 3. Mia Jones, Lexington Catholic, 1:04.94

400 freestyle relay: 1. Sacred Heart (Charlotte Crush, Maddie Flowers, Anna Thorp, Sydney Green) 3:27.90; 2. Notre Dame (Clare Herfel, Liv Wallace, Danaka Tucker, Abby Carnes) 3:34.11; 3. Highlands (Ragan Moore, Taryn Ripley, Ella Kate Reynolds, Keira Kobida) 3:36.71; 4. Lafayette (Myla Phelps, Lauren Wedeking, Avery Hutchison, Kaylee Wylie) 3:37.72; 8. Paul Laurence Dunbar (Mallory Jones, Duncan Hornback, Emery Hourigan, Kennedy Brooks) 3:45.86

Combined results

Top 10 teams (and Lexington finishes): 1. Highlands 272.5; 2. Eastern 268; 3. Ryle 265; 4. Manual 233.5; 5. Boyle County 173; 6. Lafayette 137; t7. Lexington Catholic 129; t7. Paul Laurence Dunbar 129; 9. South Warren 122; 10. Oldham County 100; 15. Henry Clay 55