2023 TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS – 5A BOYS
- February 17-18, 2023
- Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
- SCY (25 yards)
- Live Results
The Georgetown High School boys reclaimed the Texas 5A High School State Championship title on Feb. 18 in Austin, earning their first team victory since 2019 while ending Frisco Wakeland’s two-year run at the top.
Georgetown scored 200 points to top Wakeland (184) by just 16, while Friendswood (159) held off El Paso (153) to take third.
In the aftermath of Georgetown’s victory, head coach Jeremy Kline reportedly inked a one-year contract extension.
Moment @GeorgetownISD HS learned it won boys @uiltexas state championship @statesman #uilstate pic.twitter.com/v59jDBscnS
— Rick Cantu (@Rickyprep) February 19, 2023
Leading the charge for Georgetown was junior Jeremy Kelly, who won two events for the second straight time, though he took on different races than last year.
Kelly, a Texas commit, rocketed to a repeat victory in the 50 free, clocking 20.32 to emerge over a tight field that saw seven swimmers break 21 seconds in the final. He set a personal best time of 20.02 en route to last year’s win.
Kelly then won the 100 free in a season-best time of 44.12, nearing the 5A record of 43.96 set by Jack Armstrong in 2019 and his PB of 44.06 set at the 2021 Winter Juniors – West.
El Paso senior Marcos Otero was the runner-up in a time of 44.78, and he followed that up by anchoring the team to victory in the 400 free relay, recording the exact same split, 44.78, on the end as they finished in 3:05.15. Georgetown was second in 3:07.76, with Kelly notably blasting a 43.34 anchor leg.
Lubbock junior Jones Lambert and Friendswood junior Anthony Laurito also doubled up with two event wins, both setting new 5A records as well.
Lambert set new best times in winning the 200 free (1:36.63) and 500 free (4:21.34), lowering the 5A records previously held by Elijah Sohn in the 200 free (1:37.02) and Kelly in the 500 free (4:23.18).
Lambert is a Utah commit who has shown marked improvement since last year, having finished third and setting respective best times of 1:39.82 and 4:32.10 at last year’s meet.
Laurito won a repeat title in the 200 IM, first lowering Kelly’s 5A record of 1:48.32 with a 1:47.62 showing in prelims before getting down to 1:47.34 in the final.
He then won the 100 back after placing fourth last year, clocking 48.14 in the heats before topping the final in 48.98.
The Tennessee commit owns respective best times of 1:46.44 and 47.91, set at Winter Juniors – West this past December.
An incredibly exciting race went down in the 100 breast, as the top three finished within three one-hundredths of one another, including a tie for the title.
Wakeland sophomore Jackson Armour and Boerne Champion senior Griff Orloff put up matching times of 56.37 to tie for the victory, while El Paso’s Otero used a 29.68 back half to nearly run them down, taking third in 56.39.
Armour was considerably faster in the prelims, clocking 55.46 to near the 5A record of 55.31 set by Thomas Wu last year. Armour set his best time of 55.16 earlier in February at the Region 3 5A Championships.
At the beginning of the meet, Armour put up a scintillating 24.87 breast split as Wakeland won the 200 medley relay in 1:32.87, while runner-up Georgetown (1:33.21) had a 22.48 lead-off from Kelly and a 20.18 anchor from Marcus Pineiro.
El Paso won the 200 free relay in 1:24.83, with Otero anchoring them home in 20.65 to hold off Boerne Champion’s Bexon Harrison (20.28), as they finished second in 1:24.96.
In the 1-meter diving event, Cedar Park’s Pierce Brooke (537.50) picked up the victory after placing third last year.
FINAL TEAM SCORES – TOP 5
- Georgetown, 200
- Frisco Wakeland, 184
- Friendswood, 159
- El Paso, 153
- Boerne Champion, 137.5