Topeka
Rowing to the top
Blue Valley West swim coach Tobin Sample called it a once-in-18-years pair.
The Jaguars won their first state swim championship — on Saturday at the Hummer Sports Park — since the school opened in 2001. They had raked in a few third-place finishes, but the 2019 BV West group was different, Sample said. They had senior Jonah Park and sophomore Kevin Glenn.
“ ‘Row the boat’ is our motto, so we bring the energy to every meet,” Sample said. “When we have one person swimming in the water, the rest of the team has that oar to say, ‘We’ve got your back.’ “
Park and Glenn were named to the Kansas Class 6A first team, and Park was named the Kansas state swim meet’s most outstanding athlete after winning a pair of individual state championships and helping the Jags to a third-place relay finish.
Blue Valley West earned seven top-three finishes, including back-to-back individual titles from Park in the 200-yard freestyle and Glenn in the 200-yard individual medley.
The Jaguars also took the top two spots in the 500-yard freestyle with Park at the top and sophomore Sam Foster coming in second.
“I honestly didn’t think that we would have a chance,” Park said. “I mean, I knew it was in the realm of possibility, but I didn’t think it would feel this awesome.”
He said Glenn was equally as deserving of the honor after also winning a pair of titles, including setting the Class 6A state record in the 100-yard backstroke at 50.14 seconds.
Coming into 2019, Shawnee Mission East had won four straight 6A titles, and before the Lancers’ run, Blue Valley North and Wichita East rotated around at the top. Glenn said to break through that barrier was remarkable.
“We all worked so hard just to get here,” he said. “So much sweat and tears, but it’s all worth it. It’s all worth it.”
Staggering performance
Bishop Miege set three state records in 2019 and another was less than 0.4 seconds away.
Almost the entire team was recovering from the flu. The Stags lost their home pool and were forced to practice odd hours outside of school.
Still, they finished fourth at the Class 5-1A state meet on Saturday. They won six of 12 events, and senior twins Max and Lex Hernandez-Nietling were named to the first team all-state. Here is a list of Miege’s records:
- 200-yard medley relay (Max Hernandez-Nietling, Lex Hernandez-Nietling, Kevin Hannon, Kyle Eskew): 1 minute, 35.02 seconds (prelims) - previous record was 1:36.68
- 100-yard freestyle (Lex Hernandez-Nietling): 45.12 - previous was 45.58
- 100-yard breaststroke (Lex Hernandez-Nietling): 56.08 - previous was 56.28
“For me, I just got to show up in races because I know there’s a lot of people depending on me,” Lex said. “I just wanted to put our team in the best position we could.”
The Hernandez-Nietling twins have become two of Kansas’ top swimmers during their high school careers. Coach Dennis Miller has been with the Stags for 23 years. He said they are two of a kind.
“How do I get up for this?” Max said. “Either you send it or you don’t. This is everything you work for. If you’re sick, yes, it will take it out of you. But if you believe you can do it, just send it.”
All-American status
They owned their moment.
Blue Valley North set the Class 6A state record in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:24.57. The Mustangs broke their own record by almost a full second and ecplised the automatic All-American time by about 0.4 seconds. Senior Marshall Wietharn said the chips fell perfectly.
“We have problems getting the relay together because we have to disperse due to point spread,” senior Marshall Wietharn said. “But we were just blessed to get it together one last time.”
Fellow senior Logan McGonigle said it’s tough to find a winning chemistry on a relay team. To find one that set an All-American time and broke the state record was almost miraculous to do it as best friends.
And when they found each other, they knew the record was within reach.
“Not to be too cocky, but we knew we were going to break it,” McGonigle said. “We felt relieved. We had one of the guys who broke it in 2017 here watching, so we wanted to give him a bit of a show, too.”
Results - Class 6A
To see the full results, click here.
Team Standings
1. Blue Valley West - 280.5
2. Blue Valley North - 278
3. Shawnee Mission East - 221.5
4. Free State - 210
5. Olathe East - 185.5
6. Wichita East - 175
7. Olathe South - 123.5
8. Washburn Rural - 108
9. Mill Valley - 105
10. Shawnee Mission North - 94
Event 1: 200-Yard Medley Relay
1. Olathe East (Aidan Walters, Phillip Costello, Micah Leslie, Jack Gabrielson), 1:35.93
2. Wichita East (Sam Hutchinson, Jason Ooten, Earl Hwang, Drayden Bell), 1:35.98
3. Free State (Jake Viscomi, Riley Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Reilley Moore, Benjamin Vorthmann) 1:36.25
Event 2: 200-Yard Freestyle
1. Jonah Park - Blue Valley West, 1:41.25
2. Logan McGonigle - Blue Valley North, 1:43.08
3. Richie Stewart - Blue Valley North, 1:44.94
Event 3: 200-Yard Individual Medley
1. Kevin Glenn - Blue Valley West, 1:54.41
2. Christopher Sprenger - Mill Valley, 1:55.36
3. Sam Bruck - Shawnee Mission East, 1:58.20
Event 4: 50-Yard Freestyle
1. Drayden Bell - Wichita East, 20.73
2. Benjamin Vorthmann - Free State, 21.07
3. Marshall Wietharn - Blue Valley North, 21.10
Event 5: Diving
1. Will Frankel - Shawnee Mission West, 499.10
2. Zane Kohl - Manhattan, 444.95
3. Christian Tafoya - Derby, 436.40
Event 6: 100-Yard Butterfly
1. Reilley Moore - Free State, 50.18
2. Trey Smith - Shawnee Mission North, 51.89
3. Marshall Wietharn - Blue Valley North, 52.02
Event 7: 100-Yard Freestyle
1. Benjamin Vorthmann - Free State, 46.00
2. Drayden Bell - Wichita East, 46.46
3. Sean North - Blue Valley North, 47.00
Event 8: 500-Yard Freestyle
1. Jonah Park - Blue Valley West, 4:37.70
2. Sam Foster - Blue Valley West, 4:45.42
3. Alec Labeda - Wichita Southeast, 4:47.89
Event 9: 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1. Blue Valley North (Sean North, Marshall Wietharn, Logan McMonigle, Richie Stewart), 1:24.57 (State record)
2. Olathe East (Phillip Costello, Micah Leslie, Aidan Walters, Jack Gabrielson), 1:27.94
3. Blue Valley West (Trevor Baier, Dylan Logsdon, Jonah Park, Trevor Sinclair), 1:29.20
Event 10: 100-Yard Backstroke
1. Kevin Glenn - Blue Valley West, 50.14 (State record)
2. Isaac Hadorn - Wichita North, 52.72
3. Sam Hutchinson - Wichita East, 53.22
Event 11: 100-Yard Breaststroke
1. Phillip Costello - Olathe East, 57.80
2. Christopher Sprenger - Mill Valley, 58.78
3. Chase Lane - Blue Valley West, 1:00.01
Event 12: 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1. Blue Valley North (Logan McGonigle, Sean North, Sam Peterson, Richie Stewart), 3:10.71
2. Free State (Benjamin Vorthmann, Brady Flynn, Chad Anderson, Reilley Moore), 3:11.62
3. Wichita East (Drayden Bell, Sam Hutchinson, Earl Hwang, Jason Ooten), 3:12.11
Results - Class 5-1A
To see the full results, click here.
Event 1: 200-Yard Medley Relay
1. Bishop Miege (Max Hernandez-Nietling, Lex Hernandez-Nietling, Kevin Hannon, Kyle Eskew), 1:35.32
2. Topeka Seaman (Cameron Stanley, Noah Florence, James Sadler, Devin Appelhanz), 1:38.17
3. Wichita Heights (Aidan Gantenbein, Carson Hager, Noah Thompson, Austin Russell), 1:38.28
Event 2: 200-Yard Freestyle
1. Joshua Florence - Topeka Seaman, 1:43.91
2. Hunter Rey - Maize South, 1:44.17
3. George Jokov - Independent, 1:46.00
Event 3: 200-Yard Individual Medley
1. Ben Patton - Trinity Academy, 1:46.78 (State record)
2. Cameron Stanley - Topeka Seaman, 1:58.48
3. Matthew Janssen - Independent, 2:03.56
Event 4: 50-Yard Freestyle
1. Max Hernandez-Nietling - Bishop Miege, 20.84
2. Andrew Kutney - St. Thomas Aquinas, 21.18
3. Aidan Scott - Independent, 21.36
Event 5: Diving
1. Reed Slayden - Emporia, 433.55
2. Keetan Munsell - Salina South, 401.00
3. Kolby Adams - Wichita Heights, 390.20
Event 6: 100-Yard Butterfly
1. Max Hernandez-Nietling - Bishop Miege, 48.91
2. Harry Tjaden - St. James Academy, 50.56
3. Andrew Kutney - St. Thomas Aquinas, 51.82
Event 7: 100-Yard Freestyle
1. Lex Hernandez-Nietling - Bishop Miege, 45.12 (State record)
2. William Powers - McPherson, 46.80
3. Aidan Gantenbein - Wichita Heights, 47.77
Event 8: 500-Yard Freestyle
1. Harry Tjaden - St. James Academy, 4:39.53
2. Joshua Florence - Topeka Seaman, 4:49.33
3. Justus Hampton - McPherson, 4:54.00
Event 9: 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
1. McPherson (William Powers, Dawson VanGoethem, Silas Steinert, Justus Hampton), 1:27.83
2. Independent (Edward Sturm, Daniel Jekov, George Jekov, Aidan Scott), 1:28.97
3. Wichita Heights (Carson Hager, Austin Russell, Noah Thompson, Ethan Jensen), 1:29.32
Event 10: 100-Yard Backstroke
1. Ben Patton - Trinity Academy, 48.60 (State record)
2. Aidan Gantenbein - Wichita Heights, 52.04
3. Cameron Stanley - Topeka Seaman, 52.75
Event 11: 100-Yard Breaststroke
1. Lex Hernandez-Nietling - Bishop Miege, 56.08
2. John Amrein - St. James Academy, 57.08
3. Nathan Chan - Wichita Classical, 59.29
Event 12: 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
1. Bishop Miege (Max Hernandez-Nietling, Kevin Hannon, Henry Taylor, Lex Hernandez-Nietling), 3:12.38
2. McPherson (Justus Hampton, Dawson VanGoethem, Silas Steinert, William Powers), 3:15.49
3. Topeka Seaman (Devin Appelhanz, Cameron Stanley, Noah Florence, Joshua Florence), 3:15.52