Eight state swimming records broken at Kentucky high school state championships

Paul Laurence Dunbar senior Seneca Oddo worked all season with the ambitious goal of breaking 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle.

Not only did he achieve that milestone in the 2024 KHSAA State Swimming Championship finals, but he tied the state record of 19.93 seconds originally set in 2019 by Trinity’s Hunter Tapp — etching his name in the record book before he embarks on his Division I swimming journey at Florida State.

Oddo swam a field-leading 20.11 in the prelims and was the only swimmer in the finals to clock in under 20 seconds. Murray’s Kellie Tobergte finished second in 20.95, and Ryle’s Andy Pleiman took third in 21.01.

“It was pretty close,” Oddo said. “So I mean, when I heard the crowd go wild I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh, maybe I got beat’ or something, but I looked at the board and it was pretty cool to see.”

The University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center was packed and loud, and Oddo said the atmosphere helped get him in the right headspace to compete.

“I think looking at the people before the race,” Oddo said, “it got me pumped up. I’m really competitive, so I guess that helped quite a bit, actually.”

Dunbar head coach Cole Pleasants called the record-tying victory in the 50-yard freestyle “the cherry on top of the cake” of Oddo’s high school career and praised Oddo’s confidence under the brightest of lights.

“He’s just a competitor,” Pleasants said. “I mean, he thrives on this state meet. It’s a stage for him. And you never know what to expect when he gets here, and it’s always mind-blowing and fun to watch.

Oddo, who said he gets the most fun out of sprinting, also won the 100-yard breaststroke with a final time of 54.97, edging out Henry Clay’s Eli Greinke (55.90) and Woodford County’s Tiernan Moore (56.62).

Oddo swam in Dunbar’s 200-yard freestyle relay team with Will Hinz, William Naehr and Sammy Nunez, taking second with a time of 1:24.41 behind St. Xavier (1:23.89). That relay team also took fourth in the 400-yard freestyle in 3:10.60.

Oddo’s 50-yard freestyle victory was one of eight records impacted over the course of Friday’s boys swimming championships and Saturday’s girls swimming championships.

St. Xavier continued its dominance of KHSAA boys swimming with its 36th straight team title and 60th overall. The Tigers set six records in the finals and three in the preliminaries, and claimed nine of the 11 available first-place finishes in the finals — Oddo was the only boy not donning a St. X swim cap to take home a top prize. The Tigers demolished the competition, scoring 562 points on the road to victory. Trinity took second in the team standings with 179 points, and Ryle was third with 177.

Sacred Heart captured its 12th straight girls team title on Saturday night, taking home seven first-place medals and claiming two new state records, one of which was set in the preliminaries. The Valkyries claimed their 33rd overall team title with 438 total points. Elizabethtown placed second with 169 points, and Ryle finished third with 140.5.

Here are some notable storylines from the championships.

Ryle ends Dunbar’s combined title streak

Ryle finished third in the KHSAA girls team standings but took home its first Kentucky Swimming and Diving Coaches Association combined championship. The Raiders also finished third in the boys event on Friday.

“Our boys swam great. Our girls swam unbelievable,” Ryle coach Jeff Floyd said. “It just shows that we’ve become a complete program. … It’s been our goal all year and to come down here when it mattered and do what we did is unbelievably gratifying.”

Since the KHSAA only awards trophies to the top four boys and girls teams separately, the coaches association has been recognizing the top three combined boys and girls team scores for decades. Highlands finished second. Dunbar took third.

“It means everything,” Floyd said of the combined trophy. “If you’re not St. X or Sacred Heart, this is the championship that you can point to. And you can’t do it with one or the other. You’ve got to have a complete team, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Ryle’s win ended a string of three straight combined wins for Dunbar.

“It’s a program I’m super proud of, and always will be,” Pleasants said. “It’s been a super successful program even before I got here. I was a swimmer at Dunbar, and just to help carry on the tradition of what Dunbar swimming is and means is an honor. And these kids always step up to the plate and keep our program one the top in the state and I can’t be more impressed with how we’re performing this year.”

Boyle County boys on the rise

Boyle County placed a program-best fourth in the boys team standings, making an appearance in six separate championship finals. The Rebels’ four finals qualifiers — sophomores Beau Bostick, Clark Coyle and Ethan Gover and freshman Luke Hamon — represent a bright future for the program.

Head coach Jeremy Ellis was proud of his team’s turnout.

“It feels great, Ellis said. “It’s the highest finish we’ve ever had. A couple events we had had some runners-up, some third-place finishers. It feels great.”

The quartet placed third in the 200-yard freestyle relay with an All-America consideration time of 1:24.68, and second in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:09.46.

Hamon finished sixth in the boys 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.23 and sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 46.97. Gover was fifth in the 100-yard freestyle, beating Hamon by .01 with time of 46.96.

Coyle, the Rebels’ highest finisher across the six events, took second in the 100-yard butterfly with an All-America consideration time of 49.51, and third in the 100-yard backstroke with an All-America consideration time of 49.74.

Coyle said despite not racing as fast as he would’ve liked, he was pleased with the placements. And he was especially happy about the team finishing second in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“You know, I didn’t go all the times I wanted to, but I went to places I wanted to and I’m very happy with that… (the second-place finish) is just great. We’ve all trained together since we were little and it’s just great to come out here and get second.”

Crush siblings dominate competition

Once again, the Crush family name populated the KHSAA state swimming championship score sheets.

St. Xavier senior Johnny Crush, committed to swim for West Point, and Sacred Heart sophomore Charlotte Crush combined to claim five state records in the finals and three in the preliminaries.

Johnny Crush claimed each of the four races he swam and set new records in each of them. During the boys preliminaries on Friday morning, he swam the 100-yard freestyle in a KHSAA-best 42.99 seconds and the 100-yard backstroke in a record-breaking 46.33 seconds. In the finals, Crush bested those times, taking the 100-yard freestyle in 42.70 seconds and the 100-yard backstroke in 45.70 seconds.

“In one word, he’s special,” Larkin said. “And I think that, you know, he does it in the pool, he does it out of the pool. He’s a natural-born leader. And you know, whenever you need a big swim, Johnny’s there. And he’s given so much in this program, year after year after year. Couldn’t be more excited with him, the way he ended his career today.”

Crush also helped set a record of 1:27.70 in the 200-yard medley relay with sophomore Owen Durham, junior Thomas Mercer (University of Virginia commit) and senior Alex Thiesing (University of Michigan commit), and a record of 2:56.51 in the 400-yard freestyle relay with Thiesing, Mercer and senior Sammy McCall.

Crush said it was the perfect way to end his high school career.

“I can’t ask for any better way, honestly,” Crush said. “You know, come here, four out of four state records, I thank God, thank Jesus, thank my teammates, thank Coach Larkin. Nothing better I could have asked for.”

On Saturday morning, Charlotte Crush broke her own record, set last year, in the 100-yard butterfly with a 51.33 in the morning preliminaries. In the finals, she took first place with a time of 51.41. She also defended her state championship first-place medal in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 51.59.

“Her athleticism is second to none,” Sacred Heart head coach Charlie Edmiston said. “But I think what makes her so special is her humility throughout all of it. It’s that she thinks about the team first and wants to lead from the front, but also bring others alongside her and encourage them to be at their best. And I think that’s just really rare to find, especially in a young athlete.”

Charlotte Crush also helped start the Valkyries on the right path with her contribution to the 200-yard medley relay, the first championship final on Saturday evening. Crush, with Georgia Kahler, Ava Grazziani and Haley McDonald, set a KHSAA record with a time of 1:40.24, narrowly besting Sacred Heart’s 1:40.43 set in 2020.

When asked about having a hand in two state records this season, Crush highlighted the relay record.

“I’m very excited,” Crush said. “But also, I’m so ecstatic that one of those is on a relay. And that was a big goal for me last year and this year, and so now that that’s accomplished, it’s very uplifting to have my team along with me. And to know that I’m a part of this team.”

Lexington Catholic back in action

Lexington Catholic seniors Lillian Hosinski, Maysie Houlihan and Anna Claire Meegan and junior Caroline Beiting fueled the Knights’ sixth-place finish in the girls team standings, returning the program to the top 10 after last season’s runner-up team graduated several stars.

“Last year we obviously lost a lot of our stronger swimmers,” Hosinski said. “So I think this year it’s just been about proving, like, the talents that we still have.”

Beiting posted the Knights’ top individual finish with a second-place, All-America consideration time of 23.35 in the 50-yard freestyle. Hosinski was third with an All-America consideration time of 23.49. Beiting also finished fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in 51.53.

Hosinski, Houlihan, Meegan and Beiting placed second in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a final time of 1:38.32.

“It’s a very strong bond,” Meegan said of the relay team. “It’s really fun swimming with them. They’re uplifting, supportive. It’s great.”

First year for new format

This was the first year the state swim meets were split into first and final rounds in an effort to reduce the strain on the Lancaster Aquatic Center’s capacity.

“From the standpoint of event logistics and making sure mom and dad could get in, it couldn’t have gone any better,” said KHSAA commissioner Julian Tackett, who noted there had been lines out the door in past years as fans had to wait to cycle in when others departed.

The first rounds were held at three sites around the state in a similar fashion to the format golf and wrestling have used since the COVID-19 pandemic for issues that included the number of competitors and fans.

While the extra meet in between the region and state events changed the way the teams and athletes had to prepare, the results Friday and Saturday didn’t seem to indicate any issues with the competitions. The boys set five state records on Friday and the girls set two on Saturday.

“We just had to look at things a little bit differently and approach things differently to set ourselves up,” Dunbar’s Pleasants said. “It’s changed the way of resting these athletes. There’s good and bad things about it.”

By breaking the swim meet into two rounds, it allowed more swimmers from each region to make state at the first-round site while at the same time narrowing the field for the final round site at UK. Both the boys and girls final round events on Friday and Saturday had near capacity crowds. The narrower field at the final rounds also made more room available on deck for the teams, Tackett said.

“It’s been very positive,” Tackett said of the response to the new format. “It hadn’t been talked about a lot, but more people being able to get out of the region and get some statewide recognition — even if they didn’t advance pass last week — has been a good thing, and it will help participation in future years.”

Sports writer Jared Peck contributed to this report.

STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING RESULTS

2024 KHSAA State Swimming & Diving Championships presented by UK HealthCare.

At the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center on Feb. 22-24. Top three places plus any top eight (medalist) finishes from Lexington-area schools. Complete results online at khsaa.org.

Boys team standings: 1, St. Xavier, 562. 2, Trinity, 179. 3, Ryle, 177. 4, Boyle County, 148. 5, Henry Clay, 125. 6, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 123. 11, Woodford County, 61. 12, Lafayette, 60. 18, Lexington Catholic, 33. 20, West Jessamine, 24. 22, Tates Creek, 23. 23, Sayre, 21. 26, Bryan Station, 15. 33, Bourbon County, 7. 35, Madison Central, 4. 38, Frederick Douglass, 1.

Girls team standings: 1, Sacred Heart, 438. 2, Elizabethtown, 169. 3, Ryle, 140.5. 4, Notre Dame, 134.5. 6, Lexington Catholic, 115. 8, West Jessamine, 109.5. 10, Madison Central, 98. 11, Lafayette, 92. 12, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 79. 15, Henry Clay, 51. 24, Great Crossing, 21. 25, Madison Southern, 17. 25, Tates Creek, 17. 28, Boyle County, 14. 33, Lexington Christian, 8.

Top combined team standings: 1, Ryle 317.5. 2, Highlands, 222.5. 3, Dunbar, 202.

Boys 200-Yard Medley Relay: 1, St. Xavier (Johnny Crush, Owen Durham, Thomas Mercer, Alex Thiesing), 1:27.70* AA-A. 2, Henry Clay (Nick Johnson, Eli Greinke, Jack Liau, Hayes Doolin), 1:35.59. 3, Trinity (Sawyer Tapp, Hampton Stuecker, Mateo Agusti, Alec Kammeyer), 1:35.63. 6, Lafayette (Isaac Barrow, Jimmy Rogers, Joseph Schmidt, Clay Trimble), 1:38.05.

Boys 200-Yard Freestyle: 1, Alex Thiesing, St. Xavier, 1:35.80 AA-A. 2, Clay Baumann, St. Xavier, 1:40.16. 3, Chase Knopf, Ryle, 1:41.42. 6, Luke Hamon, Boyle County, 1:42.23.

Boys 200-Yard IM: 1, Thomas Mercer, St. Xavier, 1:43.74* AA-A. 2, Peyton Harrison, St. Xavier, 1:51.17 AA-C. 3, Hayden Beckley, Manual, 1:51.38 AA-C. 5, Max Yeoh, Sayre, 1:53.76.

Boys 50-Yard Freestyle: 1, Seneca Oddo, Dunbar, 19.93* AA-A. 2, Kellie Tobergte, Murray, 20.95. 3, Andy Pleiman, Ryle, 21.01. 7, Joshua Tatro, West Jessamine, 21.55.

Boys 1-Meter Diving: 1, Landon Isler, Ryle, 554.15 AA-C. 2, Jake Larkin, Covington Catholic, 546.15 AA-C. 3, Gerald Leslie, Lex Catholic, 494.45 AA-C. 4, Tyler Bobadilla, Bryan Station, 484.30 AA-C. 5, Michael Buchart III, Lex. Catholic, 478.15 AA-C.

Boys 100-Yard Butterfly: 1, Thomas Mercer, St. Xavier, 47.70 AA-A. 2, Clark Coyle, Boyle County, 49.51 AA-C. 3, Boone Wilcox, St. Xavier, 49.61 AA-C. 8, Jack Liau, Henry Clay, 52.47.

Boys 100-Yard Freestyle: 1, Johnny Crush, St. Xavier, 42.70* AA-A. 2, Sammy McCall, St. Xavier, 45.90. 3, Kellie Tobergte, Murray, 46.09. 5, Ethan Gover, Boyle County, 46.96. 6, Luke Hamon, Boyle County, 46.97. 7, Joshua Tatro, West Jessamine, 47.03. 8, Andy Pleiman, Ryle, 47.05.

Boys 500-Yard Freestyle: 1, Alex Thiesing, St. Xavier, 4:25.65 AA-A. 2, Clay Baumann, St. Xavier, 4:34.03. 3, Mason Lanning, St. Xavier, 4:37.81. 4, Brady Miller, Woodford County, 4:38.50. 8, Sammy Nunez, Dunbar, 4:50.49.

Boys 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1, St. Xavier (John Owen, Nico Von Allmen, Jack Augustus, Sammy McCall), 1:23.89 AA-A. 2, Dunbar (Will Hinz, William Naehr, Sammy Nunez, Seneca Oddo), 1:24.41 AA-C. 3, Boyle County (Ethan Gover, Beau Bostick, Luke Hamon, Clark Coyle), 1:24.68 AA-C.

Boys 100-Yard Backstroke: 1, Johnny Crush, St. Xavier, 45.70* AA-A. 2, Sawyer Tapp, Trinity, 49.43 AA-C. 3, Clark Coyle, Boyle County, 49.74 AA-C.

Boys 100-Yard Breaststroke: 1, Seneca Oddo, Dunbar, 54.97. 2, Eli Greinke, Henry Clay, 55.90. 3, Tiernan Moore, Woodford County, 56.62. 7, Jimmy Rogers, Lafayette, 57.41.

Boys 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1, St. Xavier (Alex Thiesing, Sammy McCall, Thomas Mercer, Johnny Crush), 2:56.51* AA-A. 2, Boyle County (Ethan Gover, Beau Bostick, Clark Coyle, Luke Hamon), 3:09.46. 3, Trinity (Meyer Hitch, Mateo Agusti, William Rose, Joey Geddie), 3:10.37. 4, Dunbar (Will Hinz, Sammy Nunez, William Naehr, Seneca Oddo), 3:10.60.

Girls 200-Yard Medley Relay: 1, Sacred Heart (Charlotte Crush, Georgia Kahler, Ava Grazziani, Haley McDonald), 1:40.24* AA-A. 2, Elizabethtown (Micaela Godfrey, Kate Braeger, Sydney Braeger, Caroline Godfrey), 1:46.29. 3, Christian Academy-Louisville (Caroline Wilson, Sydney Perkins, Jillian Beardsley, Raegan Guilford), 1:49.35. 4, West Jessamine (Amelia Lee, Caroline Delong, Margaret Wilson, Shelby Gaddis), 1:49.92. 5, Dunbar (Anna Whitney, Meher Saini, Max Reynolds 8, Amelia Jones), 1:49.98. 6, Madison Central (Marlee Cooksey, Angelena Brown, Emma McDowell, Kirsten Eads), 1:50.27.

Girls 200-Yard Freestyle: 1, Ava Grazziani, Sacred Heart, 1:48.68 AA-A. 2, Sydney Braeger, Elizabethtown, 1:48.82 AA-C. 3, Eli Summa, Sacred Heart, 1:49.89 AA-C. 6, Marlee Cooksey, Madison Central, 1:51.64.

Girls 200-Yard IM: 1, Haley McDonald, Sacred Heart, 1:59.37 AA-A. 2, Kate Braeger, Elizabethtown, 2:00.67 AA-A. 3, Carlie Tyler, Sacred Heart, 2:03.35 AA-C. 6, Lauren Wedeking, Lafayette, 2:07.18.

Girls 50-Yard Freestyle: 1, Kate Mardis, Ballard, 23.08 AA-A. 2, Caroline Beiting, Lexington Catholic, 23.35 AA-C. 3, Lillian Hosinski, Lexington Catholic, 23.49 AA-C. 7, Elliott Havens, Henry Clay, 24.53.

Girls 1-Meter Diving: 1, Peytton Moore, Cooper, 537.70* AA-C. 2, Reagan Patterson, Madison Southern, 537.25 AA-C. 3, Sydney Leslie, Lexington Catholic, 470.70 AA-C. 7, Claire Nicholas, Henry Clay, 390.20 AA-C.

Girls 100-Yard Butterfly: 1, Charlotte Crush**, Sacred Heart, 51.41 AA-A. 2, Sydney Braeger, Elizabethtown, 53.97 AA-A. 3, Amelia Lee, West Jessamine, 55.74. 7, Megan Wedeking, Lafayette, 57.82. 8, Angelena Brown, Madison Central, 58.14.

Girls 100-Yard Freestyle: 1, Haley McDonald, Sacred Heart, 50.12 AA-A. 2, Kate Mardis, Ballard, 50.64 AA-C. 3, Sydney Perkins, Christian Academy-Louisville, 51.51. 4, Caroline Beiting, Lexington Catholic, 51.53. 7, Margaret Wilson, West Jessamine, 53.32.

Girls 500-Yard Freestyle: 1, Sadie Hartig, Notre Dame, 4:56.46 AA-C. 2, Lillian Borkowski, Atherton, 5:01.32. 3, Eli Summa, Sacred Heart, 5:03.78. 5, Lauren Wedeking, Lafayette, 5:06.33.

Girls 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1, Sacred Heart (Georgia Kahler, Haley McDonald, Sara Keefe, Ella Donlin), 1:34.43 AA-A. 2, Lexington Catholic (Lillian Hosinski, Anna Claire Meegan, Maysie Houlihan, Caroline Beiting), 1:38.32. 3, West Jessamine (Margaret Wilson, Caroline Delong, Shelby Gaddis, Amelia Lee), 1:39.08. 4, Madison Central (Angelena Brown, Marlee Cooksey, Emma McDowell, Kirsten Eads), 1:40.20.

Girls 100-Yard Backstroke: 1, Charlotte Crush, Sacred Heart, 51.59 AA-A. 2, Kate Braeger, Elizabethtown, 54.41 AA-A. 3, Ava Grazziani, Sacred Heart, 54.72 AA-A. 4, Amelia Lee, West Jessamine, 55.65 AA-C. 5, Marlee Cooksey, Madison Central, 56.55.

Girls 100-Yard Breaststroke: 1, Sydney Perkins, Christian Academy-Louisville, 1:02.16 AA-A. 2, Georgia Kahler, Sacred Heart, 1:02.38 AA-A. 3, Hanna Schmidt, Sacred Heart, 1:02.85 AA-C. 7, Ella Kaak, Great Crossing, 1:06.49.

Girls 400-Yard Freestyle Relay: 1, Elizabethtown (Micaela Godfrey, Stella Fox, Kate Braeger, Sydney Braeger), 3:31.06 AA-C. 2, Highlands (Keira Kobida, Ragan Moore, Clare Herfel 8, Sarah Jones), 3:34.17. 3, Notre Dame (Abby Carnes, Liv Wallace, Danaka Tucker, Sadie Hartig), 3:36.57. 6, Lafayette (Avery Hutchison, Megan Wedeking, Riley Shaw, Lauren Wedeking), 3:41.32. 8, Dunbar (Amelia Jones, Charlie Boyd, Anna Whitney, Max Reynolds), 3:42.90.

Notes: * KHSAA State Championships Record; ** Set KHSAA record of 51.33 in the preliminaries; AA-A: All-America Automatic qualifying time/score; AA-C: All-America Consideration time/score.