The second half of Tennessee’s high school state championships wrapped up on Saturday, with the Baylor boys sweeping all swimming events to roll to a team win, breaking 4 state records in the process. On the girls’ side, Harpeth Hall rode multiple second-place finishes to a team victory. Harpeth Hall’s depth was particularly impressive, considering they didn’t win a single event, yet still paced the team points by 35.
Baylor’s Sam McHugh, Luke Kaliszak, and Christian Selby each set an individual state record, while the team also broke the 400 free relay mark.
Girls’ Meet
One night after finishing second in the 50 free by just .01, Maryville senior Logan Graumann got her state title, going 51.17 to win the 100 free. That easily topped second-place Sophie Pilkington, a junior from Harpeth Hall, who was 51.71.
The next event was the 500 free, where Christ Presbyterian’s Tatum Wade picked up her second state title. The 200 free winner and state record-breaker won a tight battle with Harpeth Hall’s Elizabeth Stinson 4:47.41 to 4:47.92. That was the second event in a row Harpeth Hall took second in.
Baylor picked up the 200 free relay win after just missing the 200 medley title last night. The team of Missy Karman, Maggie Stovall, Leslie Campbell and Bree Roman went 1:35.98 to easily outpace the field. That included a fast 23.0 from anchor Roman, her second big relay split of the weekend. Continuing the trend, Harpeth Hall took second in 1:37.61.
Katie Kelsoe, who technically represents Memphis Home Educators Association, won the 100 back, a tight victory over Mt. Juliet’s Carrie Johnson. Kelsoe was 55.54 to Johnson’s 55.85.
The 100 breast went to Pope John Paul II High’s freshman star Annie Kyriakidis, who doubled up after winning the 200 IM Friday. She dropped a 1:02.04 to win the event, and with three more years of high school swimming left, is now within a second of the state record in the event. Baylor relay sensation Bree Roman was second in 1:03.00.
Finally, the Girls Preparatory School took home the title in the 400 free relay touching out Brentwood by just .01 for the final state title of the night. GPS was 3:31.31 to Brentwood’s 3:31.32. The state champs got a 52.00 split from second leg Susanna LaRochelle and also a 52.04 from anchor April Forsthoffer, who held off Brentwood’s Jessica Wingo, who was making a late charge as the runners-up loaded up the back half of their relay.
Despite not winning an event, Harpeth Hall made off with the girls team title, showing that all those day 2 second-place finishes truly did add up. Harpeth Hall put up 214 points to top Baylor’s 179, with Brentwood just behind in 176.
Top 5 Teams
1. Harpeth Hall 214
2. Baylor School 179
3. Brentwood 175
4. Science Hill 159
5. Girls Prep 140
Boys’ Meet
The boys’ meet kicked off with yet another Baylor School state record. This time junior Christian Selby went 44.76 to just get under the state record of 44.79 set ten years ago by Gil Stovall. Second was Webb’s John Myhre, who also took second in the 50 free.
Baylor struck again in the 500 free with future Tennessee Vol Sam McHugh going 4:16.76 to absolutely smash the state record. The old mark was 4:21.14 from 2010, and McHugh dominated that mark by a good four seconds. He also won the race by over 16, and was just off Jeff Kostoff‘s legendary national high school record of 4:16.39. Of course, McHugh couldn’t have broken that record as it is the national public school mark, but it’s still a pretty renowned time in high school swimming history, considering the record has stood since 1983. The national independent high school record still stands at 4:13.87 set by Jack Conger a year ago.
The Baylor 200 free relay kept the streak alive by winning with a time of 1:23.23. That relay included Luke Kaliszak, Chandler Hinson, Dustin Tynes and Christian Selby.
Charlie Clifton of Ensworth won the 1-meter diving event, blowing away the field and coming within 50 points of the state record. Clifton scored 531.10 to top Stem’s Jacob Siler.
Baylor returned to the top with the 100 backstroke, which senior Luke Kaliszak won in 47.82. The Alabama-bound speedster picked up his second individual state title of the weekend after taking the 50 mark on Friday. He broke Michael Sheppard‘s record of 48.00, becoming the first Tennessee high schooler under 48 seconds.
The Baylor sweeps continued as Dustin Tynes won the 100 breast, going 55.77. That wasn’t a state record, but did top the field by .8 – Science Hill’s Daniel Chang was second.
Finally, Baylor picked up its final win of the night, breaking one more state record, this one by just .01. The team of Sam McHugh, Chandler Hinson, Will Raines and Christian Selby went 3:04.00, breaking Baylor’s 2009 record of 3:04.01 by the slimmest of margins. That team included a 45.5 leadoff from McHugh and a 45.1 anchor leg from Selby.
After sweeping the swimming events on day 2, it’s no surprise that Baylor picked up the team title, running away with 341 points. Memphis University School took second with 191, followed by Webb.
Top 5 Teams
1. Baylor School 341
2. Memphis University School 191
3. Webb 159
4. Bearden 143
5. Science Hill 132