Introducing the 2024 Wichita Eagle high school boys swimming and diving All-Metro team
The Wichita area featured some of the best high school swimmers in Kansas this season and that star power is highlighted on The Wichita Eagle’s 2024 All-Metro boys swimming and diving team.
The All-Metro squad consists of eight of the top swimmers, a top diver, a top coach and three top relay teams from Sedgwick, Butler and Harvey counties based heavily on performances at the state meet.
In nod to their sterling careers, a trio of seniors who won two individual gold medals were voted in a three-way tie for Swimmer of the Year in Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Frank Alberti, Wichita Northwest’s Brock Wallace and Collegiate’s Derek Yang. Below are the full All-Metro selections.
2024 Wichita Eagle All-Metro Boys Swimming and Diving team
Frank Alberti, Kapaun Mt. Carmel senior
Alberti finished a distinguished career as a six-time individual gold medalist, as he successfully defended both of his 5-1A titles as a senior by winning the 200 IM and 100 backstroke races. The Illinois-Chicago signee cemented his legacy by winning four straight titles in the backstroke, registering a state-best time of 50.45. He finished as a 16-time state medalist with six golds, five silvers and three bronzes.
Giani Benoit, Wichita Northwest junior
Benoit became a first-time state champion by winning the 6A title in diving, edging the silver medalist by a mere three points in the finals. He climbed atop the podium after finishing fourth as a freshman and sixth as a sophomore at the state meet.
Eli Conard, Andover senior
Conard had a near-perfect final 5-1A state meet, winning the gold medal in the 100 free to go along with two relay wins in the 200 free and 400 free and a silver medal in the 50 free. His season-best time of 46.95 in the 100 free finished as the third-best time in Kansas this season. In just two years at the state meet, Conard collected four state titles.
Jackson Lee, Andover Central senior
Lee tacked on two more silver medals to his superb career, finishing runner-up in 5-1A in the 200 free (1:45.25) and the 100 butterfly (52.53). He ended his career as a 16-time state medalist, including three relay titles, six silvers and three bronzes.
Nathan Lynch, Collegiate junior
The meteoric rise of Lynch was completed this year by claiming the 5-1A title in the 100 breaststroke race with a season-best time of 58.87, the second-fastest time in Kansas for the season. After coming away with a single third-place medal at last year’s state tournament, Lynch came away with four medals this year with another gold in the 200 medley relay.
Zachary Rife, Maize sophomore
Rife swam a season-best time of 1:44.08 in the 200 free prelims, then placed third in the 6A finals. He also took home the bronze medal in the 100 free (47.54) to cap a four-medal day at the state tournament.
Brock Wallace, Wichita Northwest senior
Wallace successfully defended his 6A titles in the 200 IM and backstroke to end his career as a four-time state champion and eight-time medalist. The Cleveland State signee was dominant in the 200 IM, where his season-best time of 1:51.51 was four full seconds faster than everyone else. He also registered a career-best time of 50.54 to win the backstroke title.
Derek Yang, Collegiate senior
Yang ended his career on top of the podium, becoming a double champion by winning the 5-1A titles in the 50 free (20.79) and 100 butterfly (50.75). He was the only swimmer in Kansas this season to break 21 seconds in the 50 free, while his season-best time in the butterfly finished as the second-fastest in the state. Combined with his four relay gold medals, Yang finished as a seven-time state champion with three silvers and a bronze in just three years at the state meet.
Clark Young, Andover freshman
It was a spectacular debut state meet for Young, who placed second in the 5-1A 500 free with a time of 4:55.21. He also added a fifth-place medal in the 100 breaststroke and swam a leg on Andover’s fourth-place 200 medley relay team.
Andover 200 free relay
The relay of senior David Gott, freshman Brett Ziser, senior Ian Diefenbach and senior Eli Conard teamed up for a season-best time of 1:28.16 to win the 5-1A title in a close race with two-time defending champion Collegiate. The Trojans’ time finished as the fourth-best time in Kansas this season.
Andover 400 free relay
The relay of freshman Brett Ziser, sophomore Eric Witt, senior Ian Diefenbach and senior Eli Conard cut more than three seconds off their season-best time to win the 5-1A title in state’s fastest time of 3:12.94. It was the second straight title for the Trojans in the event, as Conard and Diefenbach were on last year’s title-winning squad that also broke the state meet record.
Collegiate 200 medley relay
The relay of freshman Karim Sandid, junior Nathan Lynch, senior Derek Yang and senior Paul Mines combined for a season-best performance of 1:37.10 to win Collegiate’s third straight 5-1A title in the event. Yang has been on all three of the title-winning relays and the Spartans finished with the fastest time in Kansas this season.
Kelsie Biebighauser, Andover coach
Andover successfully defended its 5-1A team championship in a big way, scoring 374 team points to dominate the state meet this spring. Senior Eli Conard was the team’s lone individual state champion, while the Trojans had a host of other state medalists that included Ian Diefenbach, David Gott, Clark Young, Eric Witt, Brett Ziser, Braden Larson, Luke Neugent, Baul Lee and Henry Lasater. The Trojans also won titles in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay, while taking fourth in the 200 medley relay.
All-Metro second team
Kaleb Barker, Wichita East senior
Miquel Boira-Diaz, Wichita South senior
Gage Cooper, Andale freshman
Ian Diefenbach, Andover senior
David Gott, Andover senior
Kooper Johnson, Maize junior
Harry Ling, Collegiate junior
Riggs Patterson, Maize South sophomore
Thatcher Schmitz, Wichita Heights junior
Henry Studnicka, Kapaun Mt. Carmel sophomore
Tyler Voros, Andover Central sophomore
Eric Witt, Andover sophomore
Collegiate 200 free relay (Luke Cremin, Paul Mines, Harry Ling and Derek Yang)
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 200 medley relay (Henry Studnicka, Frank Alberti, Rob Richardson and Nathan Thengvall)
Kapaun Mt. Carmel 400 free relay (Henry Studnicka, Nathan Thengvall, Rob Richardson and Frank Alberti)
Tedd Gibson, Maize coach
All-Metro third team
Luke Cremin, Collegiate sophomore
Kellen Doty, Maize sophomore
Ayden Fooshee, Andover Central junior
Aidan Hahn, Wichita Heights junior
Jared Hays, Derby junior
Jeremy Johnson, Wichita Southeast senior
Braden Larson, Andover junior
Ayden McFarren, Derby junior
Paul Mines, Collegiate senior
Luke Neugent, Andover senior
Rob Richardson, Kapaun Mt. Carmel sophomore
Karim Sandid, Collegiate freshman
Brett Ziser, Andover freshman
Andover 200 medley relay (David Gott, Clark Young, Luke Neugent and Eric Witt)
Andover Central 200 medley relay (Ethan Finney, Ayden Fooshee, Jackson Lee and Tyler Voros)
Andover Central 400 free relay (Tyler Voros, Ayden Fooshee, Ethan Finney and Jackson Lee)
Maize 200 free relay (Kooper Johnson, Aidan Turner, Kellen Doty and Zachary Rife)
Maize 400 free relay (Kooper Johnson, Owen Johnson, Kellen Doty and Zachary Rife)
Wichita North 200 free relay (Kale Werth, Rylan Rafferty, DJ Fowler and Flint Tipton)
Kamren Hall, Collegiate coach
