Four State Records Fall as St. Xavier Wins 34th-Straight KHSAA Boys Title

2022 KHSAA State Swimming & Diving Championships (Boys Recap)

• February 18-19, 2022
• Lancaster Aquatic Center, Lexington, KY
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Top 5 Team Scores

1. St Xavier High School – 583
2. Henry Clay High School – 194
3. Paul Laurence Dunbar HS – 192
4. Bowling Green High School – 112
5. Ryle High School – 102

St. Xavier won their 34th-consecutive KHSAA boys swimming & diving team title this past weekend, throwing down a dominant performance wherein they tripled runner-up Henry Clay HS’ score.

STX swept the relays, breaking the KHSAA record in two of them, and another pair of individual event state records fell at the team’s hands. Leading the way for St. Xavier was junior Will Scholtz, who not only helped two relays to victories and new state records, but won both his individual events, breaking the KHSAA records in both as well.

Scholtz, a Texas recruit, won the 200 IM with a huge new personal best, tearing to a 1:46.48. He was phenomenal on the middle 100 of the race, swimming a 26.82 on backstroke and 29.67 on breaststroke to put himself in a convincing lead. A 25.93 on the final 50 of the race put him over the edge. His time of 1;46.48 came in well under the previous KHSAA record of 1:46.83, which was set by Zach Hils in 2018. Scholtz’s personal best in the event coming into the meet was 1:48.04, which he set at the Speedo Winter Junior Champs East meet two months ago.

Scholtz went on to win the 100 breast in 53.88, also downing the state record, which stood at 54.36 by Keefer Barnum from 2017. The swim was just a tick off Scholtz’s personal best, a 53.61 which is also from the Winter Juniors meet in December.

Charlie Crush, a St. Xavier senior who will be starting his collegiate career at Louisville in fall, also helped lead the way for his team, swimming 2 individual events and 2 relays, winning a title in all 4.

Crush’s first individual title came in the 100 fly, touching in 47.49. He was out the fastest of anyone on the first 50 of the race, but it was the 25.09 split he posted on the 2nd 50 that allowed him to pull far away from the field, touching first by 2.19 seconds. The swim was off Nicolas Albiero‘s KHSAA record of 46.29, but it was a new personal best, clipping his previous mark of 47.68, which he set at the 2021 Speedo Winter Junior Champs East meet two months ago.

He would then go on to win the 100 back in 47.32, narrowly missing his personal best of 47.10, also set at Winter Juniors East two months ago. Whereas it was the 2nd 50 of his 100 fly that really sealed the deal for Crush, this time it was the 1st 50. He opened up the race with a 22.78 split, establishing a lead of nearly one second over everyone else.

Scholtz and Crush were also both members of the 200 medley and 400 free relays, both of which broke KHSAA records. In the 200 medley relay, Crush led off in 21.71, with Scholtz then posting a 24.05 breast split, putting STX 5 seconds ahead of the field at the halfway point. Luke Thomas dove in for a 21.97 fly split, and Johnny Crush (Charlie’s younger brother) anchored in 20.41. The quartet combined for a 1:28.14, blowing away the previous record of 1:28.96, which St. Xavier had just set in 2020.

The same relay combined to take down the 400 free relay record as well. Charlie Crush led that team off also, swimming a 45.13 for a new personal best. Thomas went next, splitting a 44.82 on the 2nd leg to put the team under 1:30 on the first 200. Johnny Crush went 3rd, providing the fastest split out of anyone in the event, a 44.76. Scholtz anchored the team in 45.56 to get them into the finish in 3:00.27. The time clipped the previous mark of 3:00.31, which STX set in 2018.

Johnny Crush, a sophomore, won a brutally tight race in the 200 free, edging out ET senior John Hayes on the final 50. The pair were separated by just 0.01 seconds at the halfway point, with Crush flipping in 48.51 and Hayes 48.50 at the 100. Hayes then expanded his lead slightly on the 3rd 50, leading Crush by 0.35 seconds at the 150 mark. Crush was able to inch his way back, ultimately getting his hand on the wall 0.02 seconds ahead of Hayes – 1:38.89 to 1:38.91. It was a massive personal best for Crush, who entered the meet with a top time of 1:41.48. Hayes swam a 1:37.14 back in 2020.

Johnny Crush also took 2nd in the 100 back, behind Charlie, swimming a 48.56. Luke Thomas, another member of the record-setting relays, was the 100 free champion, swimming a 45.46.

St. Xavier also won the 200 free relay, where Lorenzo Martinelli (21.53), Zain Butt (21.11), Alex Thiesing (21.11), and Jack Anderson (20.92) teamed up for a 1:24.67. Notably, Thiesing is a freshman.

STX also picked up a win in diving, where Brandon Anderson racked up 509.10 points to win the title by an enormous 60-point margin.

Henry Clay senior Jackson Millard won the 500 free decisively, clocking a 4:28.01. The swim marked a personal best by 0.98 seconds, downing the time he swam at his regional meet in early February.

CAL senior Robert Ehrenborg won the 50 free, swimming a 2062.