Idaho HS State Champs: Late DQs Lift Lake City Girls to 3-Peat, Boise Boys Win 9th Straight

Idaho High School Swimming State Championships

• Nov. 3-4
• West Valley YMCA
  • Boise, Idaho
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet central
• Class 5A PDF results
• Class 4A PDF results

The 2023 Idaho High School Activities Association (IHSAA) State Championships were held this past weekend in Boise, Idaho. The 5A girls’ title went to Lake City for the 3rd year in a row, while Boise secured its 9th-straight title for the boys. On the 4A side of things, the Bishop Kelly boys won their 4th consecutive title, while Sandpoint secured the girls’ title after winning a narrow team battle.

5A Recap

The 5A State Championships ended with a dramatic disqualification on Saturday, paving the way for the Lake City girls to pick up their 3rd team title in a row.

The Timberline High School girls thought they won the 5A team title after triumphing in the 400 free relay finale, but the Wolves soon learned that two other relays — the 200 medley and 200 freestyle — had been deemed ineligible because two swimmers competed in five events. Swimmers are only allowed to contest four events each.

“We switched some relays yesterday to today and so the girls only swam four events total, but because it switched the relays between (prelims and finals) it created a fifth event between yesterday and today, so we went over the limit,” Timberline head coach Hailey McGahan told Idaho Press. “I had checked and I guess there was a big misunderstanding. We thought it was OK and it turned out not to be.”

Top 5 Teams (Girls):

1. Lake City – 263
2. Timberline – 237
3. Couer D’Alene – 140
4. Boise – 125
5. Mountain View – 106

Lake City was led by freshman Malynn “Tillie” Sobek, who swept the distance freestyle events with wins in the 200 (1:56.35) and 500 (5:17.23). Her performance in the 200 free marked a new personal best, shaving more than a full second off her previous-best 1:57.82 from March. Sobek also showed off her range by splitting 25.01 on Lake City’s 200 free relay claimed victory, albeit on a technicality.

“It was probably the biggest rollercoaster you’ve ever been on — you feel the world crashing down and start thinking you’d lost,” Sobek told Couer D’Alene Press. “We really didn’t know what was going to happen. Half of us were excited, some of us were crying. Whatever it was, we were in it as a team.”

Timberline sophomore Francesca Hunt lowered her own 5A record in the 100 breast from prelims (1:04.24) with a winning time of 1:03.87 in the final. She also claimed the 100 free title, clocking a 51.96 to clear the field by over a second.

Junior Kathy Nie was another double-event winner for the Wolves. She opened with a victory in the 200 IM (2:07.49), then swam a 56.74 to earn 1st in the 100 fly after finishing 2nd last fall. Both of her swims marked new personal best times.

Other Event Winners:

• Eagle High School’s Brooke Collins out-touched Ruby McCullough by a tenth to win the 50 free (25.05).
• Keegan Near, a junior from Rocky Mountain, dropped nearly a second from last year to take 1st in the 100 back (58.22).

On the boys’ side, Boise used its depth to rally past Lake City en route to the program’s ninth consecutive state title.

Their lone individual champion was Tyler Young, who clocked a massive best time of 53.54 to win the 100 backstroke. Young’s swim marks a three second improvement from his previous best time of 56.23 done in September.

In addition to Young winning the 100 back, Boise also went three-for-three on relays to take the team title by a 36-point margin of victory.

Top 5 Teams (Boys):

1. Boise – 234
2. Lake City – 198
3. Couer D’Alene – 101
4. Timerbline – 97
5. Mountain View – 95

Lake City junior Elijah Brown dominated the 200 IM with a new 5A state record of 1:55.32, taking down Ben Stucky‘s previous standard of 1:55.68 from 2022.

Meridian junior Josh Hart placed 2nd behind Brown in the 200 IM (1:58.51), but he topped the podium in the 100 breast with a new 5A state record of 56.59. Hart crushed the old 5A state record of 57.31 set by Max Wolf in 2021.

Also among the top performers was Middleton senior Jacob Schubert, who collected individual victories in the 100 free (46.98) and 200 free (1:43.29), setting personal best times in the process. He was also a key contributor to his team’s relays, anchoring the 200 free relay and 400 free relay with splits of 21.34 and 46.94, respectively.

Other Event Winners:

• Coeur d’ Alene’s Isaac Thorpe got his hand on the wall 1st in the 50 freestyle at 22.30, winning by 0.15 over Henry Bokma.
• Lake City freshman Eli Shaw dropped over two seconds to decisively win the 100 fly (52.81).
• Mountain View sophomore Jaden Akpan clocked a personal best time of 4:53.23 en route to his victory in the 500.

4A Recap

The Bishop Kelly Knights decisively earned their fourth consecutive 4A state title with a total of seven event wins, including all three relay titles.

Top 5 Teams (Boys):

1. Bishop Kelly – 226
2. Lakeland – 172
3. Twin Falls – 159
4. Skyline – 153
5. Sandpoint – 118

The team was led by senior Shae Stratton, who set two individual 4A state records and added another on the 400 freestyle relay. He lowered the 200 IM standard by nearly two seconds with a winning time of 1:54.63, crushing Nolan Moore‘s previous mark of 1:56.28. In the 100 back, Stratton shaved more than a second off his 4A record from prelims (51.03) with a blistering 49.90 in the final. He also contributed a 44.05 anchor split to help Bishop Kelly demolish its own 4A record from prelims by almost five seconds with a winning time of 3:13.74.

Other top contributors for Bishop Kelly included senior Jack Rubocki, who logged a 22.07 to claim the 50 freestyle title, and 100 fly champion Cameron Schauer (53.26).

Lakeland freshman Michael Mamola helped his squad earn a runner-up finish in the team standings by sweeping the 200 free (1:47.02) and 500 free (4:47.40), establishing new personal bests in both.

Other Event Winners:

• Twin Falls junior Alexander Schnitzeler claimed the top spot in the 100 freestyle with a 49.00, putting him nearly two seconds under his entry time.
• Carson Reis, a senior from Twin Falls, dropped over two seconds to take 1st in the 100 breast.

On the girls’ side, the team battle between came down to Sandpoint and Bishop Kelly, with Sandpoint prevailing by just 12 points in the end.

The three relay titles were split among three different schools, with Sandpoint taking the opening 200 medley, Minico winning the 200 freestyle, and Bishop Kelly closing with a win in the 400 freestyle.

Top 5 Teams (Girls):

1. Sandpoint – 185
2. Bishop Kelly – 173
3. Idaho Falls – 120
4. Minico – 117
5. Wood River – 106

Just like her younger brother, Michael Mamola, Makena Mamola, secured victories in the middle-distance freestyle events for the girls. She crushed her own 4A state records from prelims, hitting times of 1:56.17 in the 200 free and 5:07.60 in the 500.

Skyview junior Sadie Schaffer established a new 4A state record in the 100 freestyle. She stopped the clock at 53.45, taking over half a second off Gabriella Stanton‘s mark from 2022. Schaffer also took home the title in the 200 IM, hitting a 2:12.14 to clear the field by over four seconds.

Isabella Tognoni, a sophomore from Wood River, tied her own 100 breast 4A record from last year with a winning time of 1:05.41. Tognoni’s personal best in the event stands at 1:04.70, which she set at Speedo Sectionals this past March.

Other Event Winners:

• Bishop Kelly junior Lucy Penna defended her title in the 50 freestyle with a best time of 24.95.
• Idaho Falls freshman Abigail Balsmeier touched 1st in the 100 fly at 1:02.38.
• Bishop Kelly sophomore Katelyn Giffen took two seconds off her personal best in the 100 back to record a winning time of 1:00.72.