Two months before the 2014 swim season started, coach Wiley Wright scored the State meet with times from last season. Looking at those results, Wright calculated that East would not even be a contender for the top three places at State. However, by the end of the season, his opinion was completely turned around.
Going into the State meet, the team knew it was going to be down to the last point between Blue Valley North, Wichita East and themselves. East, like last year’s placing, finished second with a score of 301, 11.5 points behind Blue Valley North with 312.5. Wichita East, expected to place first, finished third with 282 points. Thirteen swimmers and all four divers qualified for finals after the preliminary round.
The 200-freestyle relay, consisting of junior Patrick Hornung and seniors Peter Milledge, Zack Holbrook and Cooper Johnson, placed first with a time of 1:25.92. The 400-freestyle relay, made up of Holbrook, Milledge, Hornung and junior Benn Schmatz placed second with a time of 3:10.99.
The top four point-scorers on the team consisted of Holbrook, Schmatz, Hornung and Milledge. Holbrook scored 37 points for the team, placing second in the 50-yard freestyle race and first in the 100-yard freestyle. Schmatz scored 31 points for the team, placing fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and placing third in the 100-yard breast. Hornung scored 26 points, placing seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard freestyle. Milledge scored 16 points placing eighth in the 50-yard freestyle and 12th in the 100-yard freestyle.
After the meet, Holbrook and Schmatz were awarded first team all state, and Hornung was awarded second team all state. Coach Wright was awarded the Kansas 6A Coach of the Year award, the fourth out of his 29 years of coaching at East.
The State team of 21 swimmers and divers was made up of eight seniors, four juniors, three sophomores and six freshmen. View all of the State meet results here.
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