Highlanders capture ninth state title
Eleven years is too long of a state championship drought for The Woodlands boys swim team.
The Highlanders no longer have to worry.
They edged defending champion Kingwood 229227 to take the Class 6A UIL boys state championship Friday at John Davis Natatorium in San Antonio.
It is the ninth state championship for The Woodlands boys.
In a great advertisement for Houston-area swimming, Kingwood’s Brendan Studdert, Beck Parnham, Connor Little and Garret Green won the 400-yard freestyle relay at the end of the night at 3 minutes and .34 seconds.
The Woodlands’ team of Aidan Flanagan, Cotton Fields, Roberto Bonilla Flores and Tyler Hulet needed to at least finish third in the race to wrap up the team title, which the Highlanders did at a school-record 3:02.66.
“If you would’ve told me ‘Hey guys, all you have to do is get third,’ but if you told me it was going to take our school-record time to do so, I wouldn’t have believed you,” The Woodlands coach Jeremy Wade said. “That was a fast heat of 400. It was an interesting ending and glad we could pull it off.”
Otherwise, much of the work had already been done for The Woodlands like a state-record 1:30.08 in the 200-yard medley relay from Hulet, Flores, Fields and Flanagan.
Kingwood’s 200-yard medley relay team of Luke Beals, Studdert, Green and Luke Langley finished second at 1:31.42.
Many of The Woodlands’ swimmers on in that event did heavy lifting individually, too.
Flores placed second in 100-yard breaststroke at 55.86 seconds.
Fields earned a silver medal individually, too, with a time of 1:48.59 in the 200-yard individual medley.
Hulet might be the day’s top swimmer. He finished second in the 100-yard butterfly at 48.20 seconds and he won the 100-yard backstroke at 47.47 seconds.
Wade said his 400-yard freestyle relay team actually was in fourth place until Hulet pulled through from the anchor leg.
“Tyler led off that medley relay in a 21.8, which was an incredible split,” Wade said. “Got us out to a huge lead in that first relay. Then he steps up in the 100 fly and gets his best time. He gets second there with a heck of a swim. Then he rolls around in the 100 back setting our school record.”
There is no shame in Kingwood finishing with the state runner-up trophy.
Kingwood’s 200-yard freestyle relay team finished third at 1:23.43.
Green is a state champion in the 100-yard butterfly at 47.80, beating Hulet. He finished third behind Hulet in the 100-yard backstroke at 49.19.
Kingwood’s Little finished fourth in the 100yard freestyle at 45.04. Parnham turned in a fifthplace finish for Kingwood at 4:31.06 in the 500-yard freestyle.
Cypress Woods comes in third
The 400-yard freestyle relay had even more Houston flair with Cypress Woods’ team of Benjamin Scholl, Clay Crawford, Luke DiMiceli and Munzer Kabbara finishing second at 3:01.64.
Kabbara won the 200yard individual medley at 1:48.16.
Scholl’s 20.59 was good for third in the 50-yard freestyle, as was his 44.67 in the 100-yard freestyle.
Cypress Woods (1:22.09) and Clear Falls (1:23.24) finished first and second, respectively, in the 200yard freestyle relay.
Cypress Woods finished third in the team standings.
Seth Reno from Clear Falls is a state champion in the 100-yard freestyle at 44.21.
Deer Park’s Brandon Michna was third in the 100-yard breaststroke at 56.59.
Class 5A meet set for Saturday
It’s a different format for the swimming state championships with the Class 5A boys state preliminaries and finals taking place Saturday at the same location.
Usually, the 6A and 5A meets take place on the same day.
The girls swimming state championships start Monday and end Tuesday at the John Davis Natatorium.