2023 LHSAA Division III Swimming Championships
- November 15-16, 2023
- Sulphur, Louisiana
- SCY (25 yards)
- Meet Central
- Prelims Results
- Finals Results
E.D. White Catholic High School repeated as Louisiana Division III state champions for both boys and girls on Thursday at the SPAR Aquatic Center in Sulphur, with Episcopal a close runner-up in the girls’ meet.
GIRLS’ RECAP
The top performer of the entire meet was Episcopal junior Rylee Simoneaux, who narrowly missed a pair of records en route to an individual sweep.
Simoneaux, a Houston commit, won the 100 back in a time of 54.92, nearing the composite LHSAA record of 54.73 set by current TCU swimmer Rylee Moore in 2019.
Simoneaux neared a second record held by Moore in the 100 free, clocking 52.37 to fall just over two-tenths shy of Moore’s 52.16 mark set four years ago.
Simoneaux set best times of 51.73 in the 100 free and 54.90 in the 100 back in late October at the City Championships.
“I am very pleased with my races today,” Simoneaux said, according to The Advocate. “It was the same situation as the City meet. I did not get a chance to rest for this meet. So, you go out and race and see what happens.
“I was a little off the best times I swam at City. It was exciting to get as close to them as I did in a greater racing environment. Coming in, we all knew it was going to be close between us and E.D. White. We wanted to see what we could do.”
She also led off the winning 200 medley relay (28.82), with Episcopal clocking 1:52.14 to edge out E.D. White (1:52.39) and reset a five-year-old LHSAA D3 record (1:52.23) previously held by University High.
Episcopal earned a second team win in the 200 free relay, with Simoneaux leading off and senior Grace Cieleiski anchoring in 23.99 as they won in 1:42.79 over Archbishop Hannan (1:43.17).
E.D. White secured the overall victory with six event wins, including two apiece from seniors Elizabeth Benoit and Leaa Breeding.
Benoit defended her state titles in the 200 free (1:55.59) and 100 fly (57.78), while Breeding did the same in the 200 IM (2:14.38) and 100 breast (1:08.81).
E.D. White also claimed the 400 free relay by more than four seconds in 3:43.53, with sophomore Ryli Cazenave producing the top split on the anchor leg at 52.63.
Cazenave also won the 50 free in 25.27.
The other winner on the day was University High junior Bailey van Hoogstraten, who claimed the 500 free in 5:20.08.
Team Scores – Top 5
- E.D. White Catholic, 379
- Episcopal, 353
- Archbishop Hannan, 228
- University High, 217
- St. Charles Catholic, 198
BOYS’ RECAP
E.D. White was dominant on the boys’ side, topping runner-up St. Charles by 187.5 points with eight event victories.
Senior Thomas Husbands earned Swimmer of the Meet honors with wins and best times in the 50 free (21.01) and 100 breast (58.77), defending his title in the 100 breast while moving up from 2nd last year in the 50 free.
Husbands also scorched a 20.53 anchor leg as E.D. White won the 200 free relay (1:39.42).
In the 50 free, he went 1-2 with sophomore teammate and younger brother Luke Husbands, who wasn’t far behind in 21.28.
L. Husbands was also the runner-up in the 100 free, taking 2nd to Loyola College Prep senior Gus Nicolosi (46.72) in 47.91.
Other top performers for E.D. White were senior Owen Klingman and junior Cade Poimbouef.
Klingman, who won the 200 IM last season, topped the 200 free field in a time of 1:45.81, and doubled up with a victory in the 500 free (4:50.82) after he was 2nd in that race in 2022.
Poimbouef won the 200 IM (2:01.75) and 100 back (54.21), moving up after taking 2nd and 3rd last year, respectively.
In the 400 free relay, L. Husbands, Thomas Daigle, Poimbouef and Klingman combined for a big win in 3:17.35, with Klingman contributing the fastest split at 48.61.
The two non-E.D. White winners were Westlake sophomore Talen Garrard (53.82) in the 100 fly, which he won by .04 over University High senior Cooper May (53.86), and the St. Charles Catholic 200 free relay (1:37.75).
Team Scores – Top 5
- E.D. White Catholic, 465.5
- St. Charles Catholic, 278
- Patrick F. Taylor, 140.5
- University High, 140
- Episcopal, 134