2023 MPSSAA Maryland High School Swimming and Diving State Championships (4A/3A)
- February 25th, 2023
- Eppley Recreation Center, University of Maryland
- Short Course Yards (25 Yards)
- Full Meet Results (PDF)
- Results on MeetMobile: “MPSSAA_4A3AStateSwimChamps2023”
Maryland high school swimming’s state record book will look much different next season, with eight records falling at the MPSSAA 4A/3A State Championships. Seven of those record came on the girls’ side, as Walter Johnson’s Sienna Karp set two individual record to help propel her team to a state title. On the boys’ side, the title went to Walter Whitman.
Girls’ Meet Recap
After winning one event last year as a junior, Walter Johnson’s Sienna Karp returned in her senior year on a mission. In her final high school meet Karp was nearly perfect, coming home with three gold medals and three state records.
Individually Karp opened the meet was the 200 IM, where she led the field by over three seconds. After winning the event a year ago in 2:04.58, she dropped three full seconds in her senior season, touching at 2:01.15. That time took three-tenths of a second off of the previous record, set at 2:01.41 by Catherine Belyakov in 2019.
Karp followed that performance by setting her second individual record in the 100 breast. Karp touched first at 1:01.54, just under Jaycee Yegher’s 2017 record of 1:01.76. She was followed by teammate Isla Batholomew, who took second in 1:04.31.
Karp was actually faster in both races two weeks earlier at the 2023 Metro Championships. At that meet, she won the IM in 1:57.70 and the breast in 1:01.25.
The 2023 Penn State commit’s third state record came in the 200 medley relay. Joined by Maren Conze, Maddie Simmons, and Healey Morgan, Walter Johnson took almost a second off of the previous state record, touching in 1:44.92.
The 200 medley relay was the first of three records to fall as Bethesda-Chevy Chase took down the 200 free and 400 free relay state records later in the meet. In the 200 free relay the team of Devin Brindle, Rena Drakakis, Hailey Hammond, and Nina Allen combined to dip below the previous record by three-tenths of a second. The quartet bestest the previous record, set by Walter Johnson in 2020, with a time of 1:35.63.
In the 400 free relay, Brindle, Allen, and Hammon were joined by Virginia Hinds to finish at 3:26.90. The previous record in that race was also held by Walter Johnson from 2022.
Joining in on the record-setting performances was James Blake’s Andrea Dworak. Only a sophomore, Dworak was the only swimmer to finish under 1:50.0 in the event, touching in 1:48.40. That time took three-tenths of a second off of the old record, set by Lauren West a year ago. West is still only a senior in high school, but opted not to compete at the meet this year.
Dworak later added a second state title in the 100 free. She held off last year’s silver medalist Amy Qin to take the gold in 50.62.
Repeating as the state champion in the 50 free was Bethesda-Chevy Chase senior Nina Allen. Allen won the event in 22.91, while teammate Devin Brindle took second in 23.56.
Not only is Allen the defending champion in the event, but she also holds the state record. Last season she claimed the state title in 22.81, a time that still stands as her lifetime best.
After finishing as the runner-up in the 200 IM earlier in the meet to teammate Karp, Sarah Eliason came back in the 100 fly to set a state record of her own. The junior took down Hannah Kannan’s 2018 record of 54.71, touching in 54.38.
After finishing outside the podium in the 100 fly and 200 IM last season as a sophomore, Wootton Campbell Scofield returned as a junior to claim the state title in the 500 free. A 2024 commit to Purdue University, Scofield finished at 4:58.80. That time was good enough to put her just ahead of last year’s bronze medalist, Maddie Simmons. Simmons finished at 5:00.38.
Along with setting a state record as a member of her school’s 400 free relay, Virginia Hinds also picked up an individual title in the 100 back. Only a freshman, Hinds was less than half of a second off of the state record with a time of 54.02.
Team Scores
- Walter Johnson – 310
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase – 289
- Richard Montgomery – 263
- Wootton – 222
- Winton Churchill – 263
Boys’ Meet Recap
While state records fell nearly every event on the girl’s side, the only boys’ record came in the 100 back. Dropping two seconds from his runner-up time a year ago, Walt Whitman senior Blake Conway finished an entire second below the previous state record, touching in 48.36. The previous record was set back in 2020 by Noah Rutberg.
Conway has seen rapid improvement over the past year, dropping nearly two seconds in the 100 back alone. He’s set to be a big addition to Cornell University this fall, with times already among the program’s best from this season.
Apart from his record-setting swim, Conway was also a part of Walt Whitman’s winning 200 medley relay. Conway split 23.30 on the backstroke leg of the race, with Meyer Eskin, Kris Lawson, and Chris Boucree joining him for a final time of 1:32.81. Boucree and Lawson were later joined by Josh Harrison and Marco Minai to win the 200 free relay in 1:26.34.
Lawson would go on to pick up a pair of individual titles of his own, claiming the top spot in the 50 free and 100 fly. After setting the state record in the 50 free last year, he defended his title in his senior season. Lawson was a few tenths off of his 2022 record, touching at 20.97. He followed that performance by claiming first in the 100 fly (49.47).
Leading a 1-2 finish in both the 100 and 200 freestyles for Winston Churchill was Kyle Wang, a junior. Wang finished second in both events last season as a sophomore.
Wang opened his meet by claiming the top spot in the 200 free, finishing slightly slower than his 2022 time. Wang touched in 1:40.66, with teammate Brady Begin touching right behind in 1:41.07.
He followed that performance by narrowly missing the state record in the 100 free. Wang was over half of a second faster in the event than he was last year, touching in 45.60. He was followed by Ethan Fu, who claimed silver in 45.97.
After finishing as the runner-up to Wang in the 200 free, Begin went on to claim the state title in the 500 free later in the meet. Missing the state record by just over a second, Begin finished in 4:27.93. The race came down to the wire, with Magruder junior Evan Mackesy finishing immediately after in 4:28.08.
While Mackesy was the runner-up in the 500 free, he came home with gold in the 200 IM. The junior touched with a time of 1:49.70.
Claiming the final individual event of the meet was Clarksburg senior Jed Garner. Garner, who is committed to the University of Tennessee for this fall, finished in 54.62 for gold.
Team Scores
- Walt Whitman – 293.16
- Winston Churchill – 274
- Wootton – 261
- Magruder – 156.66
- Bethesda-Chevy Chase – 153
sienna karp decommitted from penn state