Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville teams take another sweep
The Bentonville swimming and diving program added two trophies to its already stuffed cabinet Saturday night at the Donaghey Student Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock.
The Bentonville girls won their fifth Class 6A state championship in a row and 23rd overall. The boys won their first since 2021 and 19th overall.
“We had our team meeting last night, and we had a conversation that if you have a lane, you have a chance,” Bentonville fourth-year Coach Liz Taylor said. “We can’t be worried about where people are seeded, we just have to show up and race. The best thing about this group is ever since I’ve been at Bentonville, they always show up at the state meet.”
The Bentonville boys totaled 447 points, finishing well ahead of second-place Little Rock Central ( 392). The Bentonville girls finished with 417 points. Bentonville West was second with 338.
On the girls side, the Tigers were led by two defending champions. Senior Lienfang Yu won the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke for the fourth time each, beating her score from last year’s championship in the latter to break her own 6A state record time.
Yu was joined by junior Susie Lee as a defending champion. Lee repeated in the 100 backstroke, breaking her own 6A record time by more than two seconds, and also won the 200 freestyle. Bentonville junior Emma Onthe-Hill won the 500 freestyle by more than four seconds for her first individual state title.
The Tigers also won the 200 medley relay.
Little Rock Central freshman Zoe Smith won two events in her first state meet in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Rogers junior Addison Wicklund was the final girls event winner, taking gold in the 100 butterfly.
On the boys side, Bentonville was led by Evan Carter. The senior won the 50 and 100 freestyle in his final meet after totaling one silver medal in last year’s state championship.
“Evan had the meet of his life,” Taylor said. “He is a leader for us as a senior. Last night at our team meeting, he was great with leading that, encouraging the boys and reminding them of what this means and how much we train for this. After his 50 free, that really got the ball rolling for the boys and it was exciting for us.”
Bentonville junior Gage Johnson won the 100 backstroke. Johnson and Carter, along with Ethan Bedore and Lex Obrient, won the 200 medley relay by less than a half-second.
Springdale Har-Ber junior Connor Boatright and Springdale senior Kevin Brumfield took gold in two events each. Boatright won the 200 freestyle and broke the 6A state record in the 500 freestyle by more than three seconds. Brumfield won the 100 butterfly and set a record of with time of a 1 minute, 49.37 seconds in the 200 individual medley.
The final two boys winners were North Little Rock’s Jake Hale in the 100 breaststroke and Little Central’s 200 freestyle relay team of Layth Aladhami, Michael Potts, Joshua Reynolds and Brook Flagg.