Records Fall as Lubbock Girls Go from 7th in 2019 to 2020 Texas 5A Champions

2020 TEXAS 5A GIRLS’ STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 14-15, 2020
• Hosted by University of Texas
• Defending Champion: Montgomery (Results)
• Meet Info
• Results

FINAL TOP 5 TEAMS

1. Lubbock 186
2. Austin Johnson 177
3. Magnolia 171
4. Friendswood 168
5. Montgomery 119

The Lubbock girls made a huge improvement from 2019, as they placed 7th last season. In a tight team battle, they won the 2020 Texas 5A State Championships, just 9 points ahead of Austin Johnson. It came down to the final few events, with Lubbock coming from 15 points behind in the last 3 races.Notably, only 15 points separated the champions from 3rd place Magnolia, while Friendswood was just 3 points behind Magnolia in 4th.

Though Lubbock didn’t win any events, they had the depth to take the title to win it over Austin Johnson, whose girls won 4 events. A couple of underclassmen made a huge difference in the team battle. Freshman Ellis Fox was the individual scoring leader for Lubbock, taking 2nd in both the 100 fly (54.72) and 100 back (55.30) with lifetime bests. Another underclassman, sophomore Emma Brady was one of their top scorers, making the championship final in both the 100 free and 100 breast.

Friendswood got the meet started with a new 5A Record in the 200 medley relay. Lezli Sisung took on the back leg in 25.96, just a tenth behind Lubbock freshman Fox (25.85). Lubbock continued to lead as Brady split a 30.03 to Friendswood’s 30.66 by freshman Peyton Becker. The lead changed hands on the fly, however, with Olivia Theall splitting a 24.05. Abigail Nelson anchored for Friendswood in 24.54 as they broke the 3-year-old record in 1:45.21.

Theall, who will join her older brother at Texas A&M next season, went on to win the 100 fly individually. Her 54.04 was just a tenth shy of her lifetime best from the 2018 state meet. It was her 2nd fastest performance ever and first state title in the event.

Kaitlyn Owens of A&M Consolidated took down the Texas 5A Record in the 100 back. She dominated in 53.85, knocking 3 tenths off the former record from 2015. Her time was just a tenth short of her lifetime best from Winter Juniors. She also finished a close 2nd in the 50 free. Austin Johnson’s Ava Longi picked up a sweep of the sprints as she out-touched Owens, 23.14 to 23.18, in the 50. Longi clipped a couple of tenths from her best, while Owens dropped a tenth. In the 100 free, Longi dropped half a second for a 50.38 victory.

Longi was a member of Austin Johnson’s winning 200 free relay that set a new 5A Record. She anchored in 23.23, joining teammates Elizabeth Myers (leadoff- 23.72), Jules Hays (25.05), and Alex Watson (24.36). Their 1:36.36 took 3 hundredths off the former record, which had stood since 2014. They went on to sweep the free relays, with Longi leading off in 51.74 and Myers anchoring in 50.69 on the 400 free relay (3:30.30).

Pflugerville Weiss’ Ana Herceg dominated the 200 free in 1:47.85. She repeated as champion, but was about a second and a half off her 5A Record time from the 2019 state meet. Herceg took her 2nd win with a 4:52.40 in the 500 free. Georgetown Eastview’s Jess Yeager also won an individual double, posting a 2:02.57 in the 200 IM (2:02.57) and a lifetime best 1:03.48 in the 100 breast.