Lawrence HS Girls Win First Kansas 6A State Championship Title In Over 15 Years

2019 KSHSAA Girls 6A Swimming & Diving State Championships

• May 16th, 2019 – May 18th, 2019
• Topeka-Capitol Federal Natatorium, Topeka, KS
• Short Course Yards (25y), Prelims-Finals
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

The Lawrence High School Girls Swim Team was a Kansas High School Swimming powerhouse around the early 90’s, winning six straight team championships. In more recent years, however, the 6A meet has been dominated by three teams in particular: Shawnee Mission-East, Lawrence Free-State, and Wichita-East.

This year, however, the Lawrence girls once again return to the spotlight, winning the state crown with a final score of 303 points over Shawnee Mission-East’s runner-up total of 283. More impressively, Lawrence did so without winning a single individual event – purely relying on their impressive depth across a myriad of events.

Shawnee Mission-East kicked off the meet with a solid victory in the 200 medley relay. The team of Anna Gunderman (27.76), Anne Deedy (30.10), Lauren McDougald (25.22) and Maeve Linscott (24.62) combined for a final time of 1:47.70 ahead of Lawrence’s 1:48.40 for second place.

Blue Valley-West sophomore Addi Barnes picked up two individual event wins in her second state campaign. Swapping out her first year lineup consisting of the 100 fly and 100 breast for the 200 IM and 500 free seemed to pay large dividends, as Barnes won the 200 IM in a time of 2:04.84, and the 500 free with a 4:58.81 – the only competitor to dip below the 5:00 mark.

Caroline Blake, a freshman from Blue Valley North, earned her first individual state title in her high school career with her win in the 50 free. Blake was the only swimmer in the event to crack 24 seconds, touching the wall in 23.86.

The only other swimmer to win two individual titles was Wichita-East’s Astrid Dirkzwager. The junior comfortably won the 100 free by over a second with her final time of 51.24; and later went on to top the rest of the field in the 100 back, stopping the clock at 56.24.

Dirkzwager (23.96), along with Katerina Savvides (24.74), Eloise Lavacek (25.16), and Ariana Dirkzwager (24.25), Astrid’s freshman sister, brought home the 200 freestyle relay win home for Wichita-East with their final time of 1:38.11. Running second was Blue Valley-West, who narrowly edged out Lawrence’s team, touching at 1:40.27 to Lawrence’s 1:40.64.

Olathe East’s Emily Bachelor dominated the girls 1m diving event. The junior tallied a final score of 429.15, amassing over a 50 point lead over the rest of the competition.

In the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay, Wichita-East’s squad consisting of the Ariana Dirkzwager (53.69), Baylor McPherson (54.93), Gillian Pierce-Butt (55.04) and Astrid Dirkzwager (51.47) closed out the meet with a winning final time of 3:35.13.

Astrid Dirkzwager charged home on the final leg to hold off Lawrence’s quartet of Morgan Jones (54.84), Jamie Abernathy (54.05), Madi Heckman (54.01), and Emily Guo (53.57), but the Lawrence girls still managed to lock up the team title.

Other Event Winners:

• Wichita-West’s Maci McCullough and Wichita-East’s Arian Dirkzwager went 1-2 in the 200 free. The respective junior and freshman dominated the rest of the field, clocking times of 1:51.87 and 1:52.12.
• Lauren McDougald, who swam the butterfly leg on Shawnee Mission-East’s 200 medley relay, recorded a final time of 57.72 to win the 100 fly.
• In the 100 breast, Mill Valley junior Kayla Teasley barely held off Shawnee Mission-East freshman Anne Deedy for the state title. The two hit the pad in times of 1:05.15 and 1:05.31, respectively.

Top 5 Teams:

1. Lawrence – 303
2. Shawnee Mission-East – 283
3. Wichita-East – 267
4. Blue Valley-West – 238
5. Blue Valley-Northwest  – 118