By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Not surprisingly, four-time state champion Kadence Jefferies of Topeka West turned in an eye-opening individual performance in Thursday's season-opening Topeka West Invitational at the Capitol Federal Natatorium.
But Shawnee Heights fared the best of the three city schools in the 11-school meet as a team, finishing fifth.
“For most of our girls being new, I thought they came out today and excelled at a lot of different events,” Shawnee Heights coach Laura Wiseman said. “I was impressed with our teamwork and the amount of energy that the girls brought to the meet today. We need to carry over our spirit into (the next meet).''
Topeka West's Kadence Jeffries opened her senior season with a pair of wins in Thursday's Topeka West Invitational. [File photo/TSN]
Jefferies, who is coming off of double-gold state championship campaigns as a freshman and junior, placed first in both of her individual events, winning comfortably in the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.59) and the 100 breaststroke (1:08.57).
Shawnee Heights placed in the top five in four different events, including a third-place showing from Ashtynn Landry in the 100 freestyle and a fourth in the 500 free and a fifth-place finish from Georgia Cole in the 200 individual medley.
The T-Birds finished fourth in the 200 free relay and fifth in the 200 medley and the 400 free relays.
Although Topeka West finished eighth as a team in the invitational, the Chargers also got strong individual performances from Blanca Espinosa and Rain Rich.
Espinosa took second place in the 100 butterfly and the 500 freestyle while Rich took second place in the one-meter diving event.
Hayden finished sixth as a team Thursday after losing 12 seniors from last year’s team.
“We are a brand new team,” Hayden coach John-Martin Schmidt said. “We are rebuilding with our young group. Today was better than I expected and I will want us to focus on the things that we did well from today. A lot of our improvement will be from doing more meets and more swimming.
“I am really proud of the way we performed today.
Hayden got a win from Kaylee Gregg in the one-meter diving event.
TOPEKA WEST INVITATIONAL
At Capitol Federal Natatorium
Team scores
McPherson 402, Lansing 373, Piper 273, Wichita Trinity Academy 249, Shawnee Heights 232, Hayden 176, Wichita Collegiate 159, Topeka West 97, Independent 68 , Bonner Springs 60, Southeast-Saline 37.
Individual results
200 medley relay — 1. Lansing, 2:08.90; 2. Wichita Trinity, 2:09.99; 3. McPherson, 2:11.36.
200 freestyle — 1. Jefferies, Topeka West, 1:56.59; 2. Brunk, McPherson 2:02.02; 3. Kindle, Piper, 2:10.23.
200 individual medley — 1. Hanson, Piper, 2:31.51; 2. Sandid, Wichita Collegiate, 2:32.52; 3. Kankelfitz, Lansing, 2:43.80.
50 freestyle — 1. Grace, Wichita Collegiate, 25.78; 2. Richardson, Southeast-Saline, 26.93; 3. Walls, Wichita Trinity 27.18.
One meter diving -- 1. Gregg, Hayden, 171.50; 2. Rich, Topeka West, 113.35.
100 butterfly — 1. Richardson, Southeast-Saline, 1:04.54, 2. Espinosa, Topeka West, 1:06.50, 3. Trost, McPherson, 1:07.22.
100 freestyle — 1. Pearcy, McPherson, 56.40; 2. Walls, Wichita Trinity, 59.63; 3. Landry, Shawnee Heights, 1:00.48.
500 freestyle — 1. Brunk, McPherson, 5:24.35; 2. Espinosa, Topeka West, 5:46.75; 3. Kindle, Piper 5:57.42.
200 freestyle relay — 1. McPherson, 1:47.13; 2. Piper, 1:52.60; 3. Lansing, 1:56.87.
100 backstroke — 1. Pearcy, McPherson,1:01.27; 2. Trost, McPherson, 1:07.71; 3. Sturm, Independent, 1:08.08.
100 breaststroke — 1. Jeffries, Topeka West, 1:08.57; 2. Hanson, Piper, 1:16.01; 3. Buchholz, Lansing, 1:19.78.
400 freestyle relay — 1. McPherson, 3:59.29; 2. Piper, 4:12.74; 3. Wichita Trinity, 4:15.47.
RURAL SECOND AT EMPORIA
Washburn Rural finished second in Thursday's Emporia Invitational, with Maria Bare picking up a victory for the Junior Blues in the 500-yard freestyle.
Bare won the 500 free in 5:38.89 and also posted a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley (2:24.14).
The Junior Blues also got a second-place finish from Makenna Pritchard in the 100 freestyle (57.94) while Kiersten Harris placed third in the 500 free (6:19.75) and the 100 breaststroke (1:16.19) and Rural finished second in the 400 free relay (4:07.33) and third in the 200 medley relay (2:01.76).
Seaman's Gabby Grace finished second in the 200 freestyle (2:07.77) and third in the 100 backstroke (1:04.00) while Joslynn Grace was second in the 200 individual medley (2:23.70) and the 100 breaststroke (1:16.13).
Topeka High's Brianna Devlin finished third in one meter diving with a score of 192.85.
EMPORIA INVITATIONAL
Team scores
Free State 645, Washburn Rural 476, Lawrence 343, Emporia 316, Seaman 220, Topeka High 204.
Individual results
200 medley relay -- 1. Free State (Ward, Khosh, Engelbrecht, Wilson), 1:56.49; 2. Free State 'B', 1:58.18; 3. Washburn Rural, 2:01.76.
200 freestyle -- 1. Packard, Free State, 2:02.43; 2. G. Grace, Seaman, 2:07.77; 3. Day, Free State, 2:08.54.
200 individual medley -- 1. McCullough, Free State, 2:18.01; 2. J. Grace, Seaman, 2:23.70; 3. Bare, Washburn Rural, 2:24.14.
50 freestyle -- 1. Engelbrecht, Free State, 26.14; 2. Wilson, Free State, 26.99; 3. Wiltz, Emporia, 28.91.
One meter diving -- 1. Vincent, Emporia, 214.55; 2. Brandt, Lawrence, 209.30; 3. Delvin, Topeka High, 192.85.
100 butterfly -- 1. Ward, Free State, 1:01.07; 2. Wilson, Free State, 1:05.22; 3. Hindman, Free State, 1:05.41.
100 freestyle -- 1. Packard, Free State, 56.60; 2. Pritchard, Washburn Rural, 57.94; 3. Liu, Free State, 1:03.39.
500 freestyle -- 1. Bare, Washburn Rural, 5:38.89; 2. Nuckolls, Free State, 5:42.19; 3. Harris, Washburn Rural, 6:19.75.
200 freestyle relay -- 1. Free State (Ward, Liu, McCullough, Packard), 1:46.94; 2. Free State 'B', 1:50.73; 3. Lawrence, 1:58.57.
100 backstroke -- 1. Ward, Free State, 59.78; 2. Engelbrecht, Free State, 1:03.36; 3. G. Grace, Seaman, 1:04.00.
100 breaststroke -- 1. McCullough, Free State, 1:10.52; 2. J. Grace, Seaman, 1:16.13; 3. Harris, Washburn Rural, 1:16.19.
400 free relay -- 1. Free State (Wilson, Engelbrecht, Day, Packard), 3:52.85; 2. Washburn Rural, 4:07.33; 3. Free State 'B', 4:26.09.
