Strong swims for the Emporia High girls at Thursday’s home invitational left coach Bob Yevak content at the end of the meet.
“We’re kind of where we need to be right now,” Yevak said.
The Spartans’ 481 points and second-place finish to Washburn Rural represented their strongest effort of the year, and they won three events and earned a top-five finish in five others. Leading the way was junior Kathryn Scherich, who won the 100 freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 1.38 seconds and was the last leg of the winning 200 freestyle relay team, which finished in 1:49.07 to beat El Dorado by almost four seconds. Sophomore Rebecca Tidwell was the front leg of the 200 free relay squad and posted second-place finishes in both the 50 free and the 100 butterfly. Senior Michelle Thompson and junior Summer Wilson swam the middle legs of the 200 free.
“It was a really big confidence boost, especially in the relay,” Scherich said. “Because I know, to other A-relay teams from these schools, we’d lost to them before. And we beat them by a lot, so it was a really big confidence boost to me to get that far ahead and win.”
Thursday’s diving competition was all Emporia, too. Senior Carissa Schmitz placed first with a score of 184, and Madison Reiber (160.10) and Chelsey Kessler (158.55) were right behind her in second and third place. Scherich added another top-five finish with a fifth-place showing in the 100 freestyle, and sophomore Taylor Mason finished fourth in the 100 backstroke.
“The 50, obviously Becca swam well, and I think if I went through all the new kids, most of them had best times,” Yevak said.
Washburn Rural rang up 546 points to easily win the meet. Finishing third was Olathe East with 415 points, followed by El Dorado and Garden City.
Thursday at EHS
Team scores
Washburn Rural 546, Emporia 481.5, Olathe East 415, El Dorado 371, Garden City 310.5.
Emporia results
200 medley relay
6. Emporia A (Mason, Hilbish, E. Krueger, Gaskill), 2:19.41; 10. Emporia B (DeLong, Metz, J. Wheeler, Ranalli), 2:29.70; 13. Emporia C (Arndt, P. Krueger, Osborn, Decker), x2:41.84; 15. Emporia D (Holmes, McRell, Paige, Peterson), x2:52.64.
100 freestyle
5. Scherich, 2:21.28; 6. Wilson, 2:21.47; 7. Hollenbeck, 2:24.11.
200 individual medley
9. Mason, 2:48.69; 10. Clark, 2:55.06; 11. Hilbish, 3:04.17.
50 freestyle
2. Tidwell, 26.34; 8. Thompson, 28.61; 13. Gaskill, 30.10.
1-meter diving
1. Schmitz, 184.00; 2. Reiber, 160.10; 3. Kessler, 158.55.
100 butterfly
2. Tidwell, 1:07.20; 7. E. Krueger, 1:20.65; 9. J. Wheeler, 1:22.74.
100 freestyle
1. Scherich, 1:01.38; 3. Wilson, 1:03.23; 7. Thompson, 1:03.65.
500 freestyle
7. Clark, 6:49.51; 8. Gaskill, 6:59.46.
200 freestyle relay
1. Emporia A (Tidwell, Thompson, Wilson, Scherich), 1:49.07; 6. Emporia B (Hollenbeck, Ferrell, J. Wheeler, E. Krueger), 2:02.69; 9. Emporia C (Arndt, Decker, Osborn, Clark), x2:11.73; 14. Emporia D (McRell, Peterson, K. Krueger, Housholder), x2:31.19.
100 backstroke
4. Mason, 1:14.44; 8. DeLong, 1:20.65; 12. Holmes, 1:29.57.
100 breaststroke
6. Hilbish, 1:30.25; 11. Metz, 1:47.79; 12. P. Krueger, 1:52.10.
400 freestyle relay
2. Emporia A (Tidwell, Thompson, Wilson, Scherich), 4:06.69; 5. Emporia B (Hollenbeck, Gaskill, Clark, Krueger), 4:28.30; 13. Emporia C (Paige, Ferrell, Osborn, Ranalli), x5:16.81; 16. Emporia D (Arndt, McRell, K. Krueger, Housholder), x5:36.30.