The Woodlands girls win 11th title
AUSTIN — Gold medals and gold hair make a great pair. Just ask The Woodlands’ Jeremy Wade.
The Highlanders’ sixthyear swimming coach can vouch for both.
With his hair dyed blonde, Wade eagerly watched from the pool deck as his girls team reclaimed its throne as the No. 1 team in Texas.
The Woodlands weaponized its depth once again during a dominant performance at the UIL Class 6A state swimming and diving championships Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
The Highlanders finished as the runners-up last year to Southlake Carroll after winning the crown in 2021. This time around, they came out on top with 300 points. That was enough to hold off Carroll (284).
The victory marked the 11th state title for The Woodlands’ girls program, all of which have come since 1989.
“Total team effort,” Wade said. “Every single point mattered coming into this meet. We had a fantastic prelims, but Southlake Carroll, they had a really good prelims, so they tightened the gap coming into the meet. Kudos to them — they swam great, well-coached team. But I’m so proud of our girls. Our senior girls stepped up and led the way.”
The Woodlands started strong with a silver-medal finish in the 200-yard medley relay for the second consecutive season. The team of Maria Uranga, Evlin Riederer, Mary Nordmann and Brooke Miller clocked in at 1:42.52.
The Highlanders also had a strong showing in the 500 freestyle. Junior Zoe Nordmann led the charge with a silver at 4:50.78, and senior Abigail Pope took bronze in 4:52.84.
The Woodlands extended its lead even further with a gold in the 200 freestyle relay, clocking in at 1:33.67.
That winning squad was comprised of Sophia Cristal, Chloe Corbin, Mary Nordmann and Zoe Nordmann.
Miller, Corbin, Zoe Nordmann and Riederer closed out the competition with a bronze in the 400 freestyle relay, touching the wall at 3:25.51.
The Woodlands picked up its only individual medal of the day in the 100 breaststroke as Riederer, a junior, claimed silver at 1:01.28.
Highlanders shine
The Woodlands boys were no slouches, either.
The Highlanders moved up one spot from last year’s finish, taking second place with a score of 238. Keller won the state title with 260, and Kingwood took third place at 137.
“Going up against a team as stacked as Keller’s is, this is probably the most talented boys team — like I said at the beginning of the year — to ever come out of The Woodlands,” Wade said.
The Woodlands started the meet with a strong performance in the 200 medley relay, taking gold with a time of 1:29.81 after finishing second last year. That set a new state record, beating the Highlanders’ time of 1:30.08 from 2021.
The team was comprised of Ryan Rautenbach, Tyler Tannenberger, Roberto Bonilla Flores and C.J. Sorensen.
The Highlanders collected another batch of points in the 200 freestyle relay as the team of Aidan Flanagan, Wesley Foster, Slade Stephens and Sorensen captured bronze with a time of 1:23.33. The Woodlands also took bronze in the 400 freestyle relay as Flanagan, Foster, Stephens and Rautenbach finished the race at 3:03.17.
Flores reached the podium twice individually. He took bronze in the 200 IM at 1:46.83 and silver in the 100 breaststroke at 54.62. Tannenberger contributed to The Woodlands’ medal count as well, taking bronze behind Flores in the breaststroke at 55.42.
Junior diver Jacob Jones was also a factor, taking silver in the 1-meter event with a score of 566.35.
Scholl wins 2 golds
When Benjamin Scholl emerged from the water and looked up at the scoreboard, the Cypress Woods senior began celebrating the “1” perched next to his name. But then, there was another revelation.
His friend and competitor, Round Rock Westwood senior Sonny Wang, was also clamoring over his performance in the 50 freestyle, the fastest race of the entire meet.
“Ben, we tied!” Wang shouted from his lane. Indeed, they had. Both swimmers touched the wall at 19.94 seconds. It marked the second consecutive gold and third medal in the event for Scholl, who took bronze as a sophomore. It was also the third medal for Wang, who captured gold as a sophomore and silver as a junior.
“We’ve been racing each other at state for the past four years,” Scholl said. “We’ve just been going at it, and the last year, we tie? It’s just great. … Me and him, we warm up together and pretty much get ready for our races together. I see him at all my national meets, and we go at it with each other. At the national meets, it feels like we’re kind of teammates because we’re going against the whole country. But here, it’s just like a fun little duel.”
There would be no sharing for Scholl in his second race of the day, the 100 freestyle. But, once again, he had to battle Wang for the top spot on the podium. He came out with a solo victory at 43.42.