Deer Creek captures Class 5A state title
The Deer Creek Antlers took a late lead and held on to win the Class 5A boys state swimming championship late Saturday at the Jenks Aquatics Center.
JENKS — Ryan Dillow did not dream of winning a state championship four years ago when he joined the Deer Creek swim team.
It’s more than a dream for the now senior. It’s reality.
Deer Creek pulled ahead late in a frantic finish to win the Class 5A boys championship 242-231 over second-place Stillwater on Saturday at the Jenks Aquatics Center. The title is the Edmond school’s first swimming title.
When Dillow was a freshman, Deer Creek had less than 15 swimmers, boys and girls combined.
“To think that we went from freshman year and lowest on the scoreboard to champions, it’s something to get your head around,” Dillow said.
As each year progressed, the Antlers kept growing under coach Nathan Copher and improving in the team standings. Even then, Deer Creek still had only two boys make individual finals at last season’s state meet. The addition freshman
Devon Schimbeno, who won the 100-yard breaststroke Saturday, was a major boost to this year’s squad. Schimbeno’s points from his victory gave Deer Creek an eight-point cushion over Stillwater entering the final race.
“After the 100 breaststroke, I knew we were in the lead.” Copher said. “That group of boys did an amazing job on the final relay.”
Dillow did his part in individual scoring, too. He finished second in the 100yard butterfly and 100yard backstroke. But his leadoff leg on the final relay gave Deer Creek an early advantage over Stillwater that it did not relinquish.
“There was a heck of a lot of pressure on these guys,” Copher said. “They are fierce competitors. They came through for us.”
Stillwater girls make it a three-peat
Another state meet, another dominating performance from the Stillwater girls.
Junior Dewi Blose broke the Class 5A girls 100-yard backstroke state record as Stillwater won its thirdstraight championship with a convincing 306-187 margin over second-place Tulsa Washington.
Blose’s 400-yard freestyle relay, which included Sadie Freudenberger,
Cecilia Smith and Isabelle Smith, broke the state record by almost four seconds.
Norman North boys lose heartbreaker to Jenks
Norman North swam as well as it could have Saturday to win the state championship.
Unfortunately for its title hopes, its fate was sealed Friday.
Jenks defeated Norman North 359-357 on Saturday to win the Class 6A title. North held a 58-point lead entering the final two events, but Jenks entered more swimmers in the 100-breastroke.
The primary issue for Norman North on Saturday was it didn’t have its top-seeded 400-yard freestyle relay, which was disqualified during Friday’s preliminaries for a false start.
Norman North did win eight of the 11 events, including the first two relays. Freshman Jonathon
Tang won the 50- and 200yard freestyles. Senior
James Dyer won the 100yard freestyle and backstroke. Junior Even Wagner won the 100-yard butterfly, and junior Alex Stamatin won the 200-yard individual medley.
Newby bests both her Class 5A records
Hanna Newby once again rewrote the Oklahoma high school swimming records Saturday.
The Bishop McGuinness sophomore broke the two state records she set as a freshman in the 200yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke at the Class 5A state meet.
Newby’s 2:04.98 in the I.M. was almost a threesecond improvement from her freshman time. Her finals time in the breaststroke was 1:03.05.
“It was difficult (racing against my previous record times), but I just pushed myself,” Newby said. “It felt good to know my hardwork has continued to pay off.”