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In 6A, Shawnee Mission East is the defending state champion, but there’s another East team gunning for a state title. The Blue Aces of Wichita East have won the City League title for the past five seasons, but have made noise at the state meet just once in that time when the squad took third last season.
In 5-1A, Blue Valley Stilwell ran away with the state title in 2012 as it beat second-place Bishop Carroll by 99 points. This year is a different story as Stilwell has moved up to 6A, so it is anyone’s game for the 2013 championship.
6A Preview
Only a few area schools will compete for the 6A swim championship with northeast-Kansas schools. However, the Wichita-area schools are right in the mix for the 6A title.
For the past sfive years, Wichita East has dominated the City League. Every year this is a team that has no problem with the teams outside the Kansas City and Lawrence area, but once the Blue Aces get in the pool with schools from northeast Kansas, they fall behind.
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With a third place finish at state last year with a young team, this East squad is not looking to move up one spot, but to win the whole thing.
“The team that won last year graduated a bunch of seniors,” said East standout Jake Spitz. “We graduated four points.”
As true as that might be, East will still have its hands full in Topeka Friday and Saturday.
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The Blue Aces hold the top time of 1:38.15 in the 200-yard Medley Relay; a team that consists of Spitz, Brandon Shinsato, Nate Pirner and Andrew Sousa. The second-best time is held by Lawrence Free State and Olathe East. Both have the time of 1:40.06.
Maize’s Lucas Popp and Spitz hold the top two times in the 50-yard freestyle with 21.48 and 21.57, respectively. Shawnee Mission East’s Zack Holbrook has the third-best of 21.73. As most 50-yard freestyle races are, this one is going to be won by fingertip.
Popp and Holbrook hold the top two times in the 100-yard freestyle, as well. Popp’s seed time in 46.98 and Holbrooks is 47.23. Again, it could be won by a fingertip.
Wichita Heights’ Kyle Cullinan is the fifth-seeded swimmer in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:48.24. Blue Valley Northwest’s Jesse Musser is the top seed with 1:41.79.
Spitz holds the third-best time in the state in the 100-yard butterfly with 52.35. Free State’s Ben Sloan is the top seed with 51.11 and Blue Valley Stilwell’s Chris Hearl is second with 51.26.
Pirner of East is the top seed in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 59.58, nearly a second ahead of the No. 2 seed of Zach Willis from Olathe Northwest.
East’s Shinsato is the second seed in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.11 and Shawnee Mission East’s Troy DeMoss holds the top seed with a time of 52.81. Heights’ Bryce Blattner is No. 4 with a time of 54.23.
Maize holds the No. 3-seed in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:18.24. Shawnee Mission East and Free State are Nos. 1 and 2 with 3:15.79 and 3:18.04 respectively.
5A-1A Preview
The Maize South 200-yard medley relay team of Jonathon Lavelle, Greyson Heckman, Jacob Evraets and Caleb Peterson are the top seed in the event at state. St. James Academy’s team is the No. 2 seed with a 1:46.58. Right behind the No. 2 seed is Blue Valley Southwest with a 1:46.59. Lavelle holds the top seed in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.36.
Winfield’s Keiser Witte holds the top seed by nearly a second with a 21.34 time in the 50-yard freestyle. Maize South’s Heckman is No. 2 with 22.25. The same goes for the 100-yard freestyle, where Witte is the top seed with a time of 46.79. The No. 2 seed is McPherson’s Derick Goodson with a 48.03. Shawnee Mission South’s Kenneth Bergman is No. 3 with 48.72.
The 200-yard freestyle relay from Maize South is No. 3 with a time of 1:34.26. That team is consisted of Peterson, Evraets, Lavelle and Heckman. The Wichita Collegiate team of Jake Barrett, Jack Naron, Sam Horner and Rhys Powell are the fifth seed.
Carroll’s Will Smith holds the top time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a 1:01.89. Topeka Hayden’s Michael Wangerin is No. 2 with 1:03.17. Newton’s Jace Schmidtholds the No. 4 seed with a 1:05.69.
The Kapaun 400-yard freestyle relay of Ryan Rathert, Matt Samsel, Paul Vanderpool and Luke Vanderpool hold the No. 4 seed with a time of 3:30.96, just ahead of the Collegiate squad of Trent Pirner, Barrett, Horner and Powell. The Spartans have a time of 3:31.94.
Newton’s Alex Trimble is the third-seeded swimmer in the 200-yard freestyle race with a time of 1:50.64. McPherson’s Goodson is No. 4 with 1:51.78, No. 5 is Kapaun’s Samsel with 1:53.68 and No. 6 is Collegiate’s Horner with a 1:54.68.
Lavelle is the top seed in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.36. Shawnee Heights' Kevin McGowan is the No. 2 swimmer in the event and Wichita Trinity's Ben Johnson is No. 3 with a time of 57.63.