Nate Germonprez Shines, Girls Meet Ends in Draw at Nebraska High School State Champs

2023 NSAA Swimming and Diving State Championships

• February 23-23, 2023
• Devaney Center, Lincoln, Nebraska
• Short Course Yards (25 Yards)
• Results on MeetMobile: “2023 NSAA Swimming Championships”

For just the second time in state history, the Nebraska girl’s state title came out as a draw, with Omaha Westside and Omaha Marian finishing dead even at 339 points. After facing each other five times during the regular season, the two battled it out to the end at the state championships, with both schools finishing within the top-10 all-time for points at the meet. Marian was involved in the last state title tie as well, drawing with Lincoln Southeast back in 1982 with 186 points. The boy’s meet has also seen two ties, both in 1942 (Lincoln High and Omaha Technical) and 1966 (Westside and Southeast). This year, Creighton Prep ran away with the state title, winning by over 100 points.

Girls’ Meet Recap

No swimmer was more vital to Marian’s claim of the state title than senior Josie Hood. Hood left the meet with four gold medals, having won both the 200 free and 100 free, as well as playing a part in her team’s winning 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

After finishing as the runner-up in the 200 free a year ago, Hood returned for her senior year to claim the gold in the 200 free, upsetting two-time defending champion Natalya Woods. Hood sat in second for most of the race before splitting 28.27 over the final 50 yards to surge ahead for gold. She followed that performance by winning her third straight title in the 100 free, touching in 50.76.

On Marian’s 200 free relay, Hood was joined by Meredith Peyton, Easton Glandt, and Lauren Mendlick to claim gold. The quartet won by nearly a second in 1:35.82, with Hood anchoring in 22.98. Peyton and Hood were later joined by Alaira Hadford and Katy Foley to finish the meet with gold in the 400 free relay (3:27.31).

Along with her leg on the 400 free relay, Alaira Hadford also picked up Marian’s final state title of the meet, winning the 500 free. Just like in the 200 free, the race came down to the wire between a Marian swimmer and Natalya Woods, with Hadford getting her hand to the wall first by just .06. Hadford finished with a time of 5:02.52, while Woods was just behind her in 5:02.58. While she finished second, that performance is nearly seven seconds faster than her winning time from a year ago.

Westside picked up multiple state titles of their own across the meet, with sophomore Piper Hagen picking up the school’s first gold in the 200 IM. In a battle with Norfolk’s Elsie Olberding, Hagen came out on top with a time of 2:06.57.

Joining Hagen in winning an event for Westside was junior Kate Stevens. The only swimmer to touch under 24.0 in the 50 free, Stevens claimed her first state title with a time of 23.85. The final of the event also included the defending state champion, Bella Livingston of Lincoln Southwest. Livingston finished 4th in 24.27.

Molly Von Seggern of Mill North picked up a pair of individual state titles as well as a relay gold in the final meet of her high school career. After helping Mill North to gold in the 200 medley relay (1:44.04), she picked up individual golds in the 100 fly and 100 back. In the fly, she claimed her second straight title, winning by less than a tenth in 55.92. She followed that swim by winning her first career title in the 100 back, swimming a dominant race to win by over a second in 55.27. Von Seggern is committed to the University of Nevada for this fall.

Mill North also came out on top in the 100 breast, with senior Ella Petrick taking gold. After finishing in fourth a year ago, Petrick dropped over half a second from her finals time last season, touching in 1:04.58. Petrick is committed to the University of San Diego for the fall.

On the diving board, Lincoln Southeast sophomore Eve Nelson claimed gold. She finished over 15 points ahead of runner-up Sally McClellan, winning with a score of 453.64.

Girls Team Scores

1. Westside – 339
2. Marian – 339
3. Lincoln Southwest – 195.5
4. Millard North – 174.5
5. Lincoln Southeast – 138

Boys’ Meet Recap

While Nate Germonprez‘s team finished in fourth overall, the senior set a pair of state records at his final high school meet.

Germonprez opened his meet by blowing away his own state record in the 200 free, taking nearly two seconds off of his time in the event from a year ago. After cruising to the top seed in prelims with a time of 1:36.87, he blew that time away in finals with a time of 1:33.96. Entering the meet, Germonprez owned the previous record with his winning time of 1:35.60 from a year ago.

He followed that swim by setting his second record in the 100 free. After breaking the previous record, held by Jacob Molacek since 2014, in prelims, he lowered the record even further during finals, touching at 43.17. That time is nearly a second faster than Molacek’s record that he set while swimming for Creighton Prep.

When SwimSwam released our rankings of the freshman class of 2023 last year, we ranked Germonprez as the 5th best member of his class. At the time, he held the top time’s in his recruiting class in the 200 free, 100 breast, and 200 breast. He’s set to join the University of Texas this fall.

Taking second behind Germonprez in the 100 free was Elkhorn senior Greg Wehbe. While he finished just short of gold in that event, he managed to stand atop the podium in the 50 free. Wehbe, who is committed to New York University for this fall, finished with a time of 20.43. He was followed closely by Creighton Prep senior Henry Dvorak, who later won the title in the 100 fly (48.81).

Winning the first state title of his career was William Clark in the 200 IM. Clark, a senior at Creighton Prep, took the event in 1:51.26. The top three in the event all finished within just over half of a second of each other, with Luke Dankert taking second (1:51.43) and Clark’s teammate Drayton Beber taking third (1:51.81).

Clark and Dvorak were also both members of Creighton Prep’s winning 200-free relay at the beginning of the meet. Joined by Drayton Beber and Thomas Nissen, the quartet finished in 1:30.50 for gold.

Kalvin Hahn of Mill North claimed gold in the 500 free, beating out 2021 state champion and state record holder John Watson in the process. The race between Hahn and Watson came down to the wire, with Hahn taking the win by just a tent of a second in 4:29.30. That time put the 2023 Army commit just .06 off of Watson’s record in the race.

Hahn would later pick up a second state title in the 100 breast. Finishing just off of his lifetime best in the event, he took gold in 54.53.

Elkhorn picked up the state title in the 400 freestyle relay, with the quartet of Ryan Mayo, Jacob Horner, Blake Forsberg, and Wehbe touching in 3:04.72. The same four narrowly missed out on first in the 200 free relay, finishing .01 behind Creighton Prep who took gold in 1:22.69. Creighton Prep’s team was made up of Henry Dvorak, Drayton Beber, Thomas Nissen, and John Watson.

After finishing outside the top-3 in the 100 and 200 freestyles as a sophomore last season, Aidin Kolb claimed his first state medal as a junior in the 100 back. Swimming for Southwest, Kolb finished in a winning time of 50.61.

Boys’ Team Scores

1. Creighton Prep – 423.5
2. Elk-Elk South-Elk North – 274.5
3. Lincoln East – 242
4. Westside – 225
5. Lincoln Southwest – 220