2024 NSAA Championships
- Feb. 22-24, 2024
- University of Nebraska’s Bob Devaney Sports Center
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- SCY (25 yards)
- Live results
Girls Team Scores
- Westside – 409
- Marian – 272
- Lincoln East – 194
- Lincoln Southeast – 163
- Millard South – 153
Natalya Woods didn’t suffer her first individual defeat at the NSAA Championships until her junior year at Lincoln Southeast last season, when she placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle (1:49.97) and 500 free (5:02.58) after winning those events as a freshman and sophomore.
So Woods decided to alter her approach, switching her lineup from distance to sprint freestyle events as a senior. The adjustment paid off as she swept the 50 free (23.16) and 100 free (50.24) last month, nearly breaking a seven-year-old meet record (49.48 by Olivia Calegan in 2017) in the latter event. Woods knocked more than half a second off her best 50 free (23.72) and more than a full second off her previous-best 100 free (51.78) times from earlier in February, finishing her high school career with six state titles at University of Nebraska’s Devaney Center.
Woods’ Lincoln Southeast squad placed 4th in the team standings with 163 points behind Lincoln East (194), Marian (272), and Westside (409). Westside won convincingly this year after tying Marian for last year’s crown with 339 points apiece.
Team champion Westside boasted one individual winner in junior Piper Hagen, who dropped more than a second in the 500 free (5:01.78) on her way to the victory. Her previous best stood at 5:03.29 from last March. Hagen also anchored Westside’s winning 400 free relay (3:29.67) with a 51.57 split.
Marian sophomore Meredith Peyton picked up four 1st-place finishes in the 200 free (1:51.75), 100 fly (55.56), 200 free relay (23.49 split, 1:35.77 total), and 200 medley relay (1:44.38, fly split unavailable). She wasn’t far off the meet record in the 100 fly (54.48 from Kaitlyn Witt in 2018), dropping a couple tenths of her best time in the process. Peyton also shaved more than half a second off her previous-best 200 free (1:52.52) from earlier in February.
Peyton’s teammate, Marion junior Easton Glandt, took the 200 IM title in 2:04.11, knocking more than a second off her previous-best 2:05.36 from November. She placed 3rd last year in 2:07.11. Glandt also earned a runner-up finish in the 100 breast (1:03.80), slicing a tenth off his previous best (1:03.91) from November. She added a 24.28 leadoff on Marian’s 200 free relay (1:35.77) — just off her personal-best 24.08 from prelims — and a 28.73 breast split on the triumphant 200 medley relay (1:44.38).
Other individual champions included Millard South junior Kindsey Joyce in the 100 back (55.70) and Brownell-Talbot senior Grace Swoboda in the 100 breast (1:03.68). Joyce was just a few tenths shy of her personal-best 55.39 from November, and not far off the meet record of 54.67 set by Clara Walstad in 2017. Swoboda, an Iowa State commit, was also a few tenths shy of her personal-best 100 breast time of 1:03.34 from November.
Boys Recap
Team Scores
- Creighton Prep – 404
- Lincoln East – 318
- Lincoln Southwest – 232
- Westside – 193
- Millard North – 153
A trio of individual champions helped the Creighton Prep boys sweep all three relays and capture their second consecutive Nebraska state title last month in Lincoln.
Creighton Prep senior Nate Finnegan won the 200 IM (1:51.73), junior Evan Niemeyer took the 100 fly title (49.74), and Ryan Mendlick delivered a victory in the 100 free (46.17). All three swimmers dropped about half a second off their lifetime bests in the process.
Finnegan (24.06 back) and Niemeyer (22.07 fly) combined their talents on Creighton Prep’s 200 medley relay (1:31.75), Niemeyer (20.97 split) and Mendlick (21.21 leadoff) teamed up on the 200 free relay (1:23.26), and Finnegan (45.65 split) and Mendlick (45.68 split) carried the 400 free relay (3:04.23).
Lincoln Southwest senior Aidin Kolb collected wins in the 50 free (20.66) and 100 back (50.01), both in best times. The University of Nebraska, Omaha commit dropped .22 seconds in the 50 free and .60 seconds in the 100 back.
Lincoln East junior Jadeon Carter also emerged a double winner with a distance freestyle sweep. He dropped a few tenths in the 200 free with a winning time of 1:41.20 while coming up just short of his best time in the 500 free (4:34.57 from prelims last year) en route to victory in 4:35.12.
The other individual champion on the boys’ side was Millard South senior Nik Keuser, who claimed the 100 breast title in 54.85. He was just about half a second shy of his personal-best 54.28 from December.