On Thursday, Feb. 15, senior Isaiah Wilkins competed in the 1-meter dive preliminaries and semi-finals. Coming into State, he was ranked #13 but quickly rose his way up. After placing 6th in prelims, Wilkins had more motivation than ever. 

“I told the people in 5th, 4th, and 3rd that they better be ready cause I’m coming for them, and after semis I accomplished just that,” Wilkins said. He then went on to compete in semi-finals and placed 3rd with a score of 298.55.

Friday, Feb. 16 was the first day of State swimming preliminaries where Free State had many athletes set to compete.

First to compete for Free State was the 200 Yard Medley Relay team, consisting of junior Sina Khosh, junior Asher Zelvy, senior Dawson Bonnell, and senior Jake King who placed 16th, making the cut for finals.

Next up was Sophomore Owen Carnagey who competed in the 200 Yard Freestyle, placing 22nd in prelims. 

Earning two spots in finals, Senior Dawson Bonnell competed in the 200 Yard IM placing 9th and placing 7th in the 100 Yard Butterfly.

Junior Sina Khosh placed 20th in the 100 Yard Butterfly, along with senior Jackson Rea who placed 24th. 

Free State’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team consisting of freshman Anderson Bateman, junior Lucas Fearn, junior Jack Kempf, and senior Jake King placed 12th, earning a spot in finals.

Next, junior Sina Khosh placed 14th in the 100-yard Backstroke with a time of 57.59 earning a ticket to finals. 

Senior Levi Bates also competed in the 100-yard Backstroke, placing 23rd with a time of 1:00.87. 

In the last event of the night, the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay team consisting of freshman Anderson Bateman, junior Jack Kempf, senior Dawson Bonnell, and senior Jake King placed 12th overall.

Junior Jack Kempf, senior Dawson Bonnell, and senior Jake King stand and watch as freshman Anderson Bateman swims first in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Finals for both Swim & Dive took place on Saturday, Feb. 17. 

The first event of the afternoon was finals for the 1-meter dive where senior Isaiah Wilkins went on to win 5th place with a score of 398.15, securing a spot on the podium.

After a short break, swimming finals were underway. First to compete for Free State was the 200-yard medley relay team consisting of junior Sina Khosh, senior Max Polson, senior Jake King, and senior Dawson Bonnell who placed 13th overall.

Next for Free State was the 200-yard IM, where senior Dawson Bonnell placed 9th overall with a time of 2:02.22.

“I was happy with my swims despite my place and times. Because swimming is such a process-oriented, technical sport it is hard to perform without small mistakes. In my races, I achieved all of my process goals and hit podium-scoring times in both of my individual events.” Bonnell said. 

Directly after, Bonnell competed in the 100 Yard Butterfly taking 7th place with a time of 53.73, and gaining a spot on the podium.

Next, the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay team consisting of freshman Anderson Bateman, junior Lucas Fearn, junior Jack Kempf, and senior Jake King competed and went on to place 13th overall.

Junior Sina Khosh placed 12th overall in the 100-yard Backstroke with a time of 56.30, improving his prelims score.

Last for Free State was the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay team consisting of freshman Anderson Bateman, junior Jack Kempf, senior Dawson Bonnell, and senior Jake King who placed 11th overall. 

Free State Boys Swim and Dive placed 14th overall as a team with a score of 68. 

“Everyone gathered together to stay motivated from prelims to finals.” senior Dawson Bonnell said.