Boys swim team finishes second at home meet

Louisburg’s Drake Burdine swims the butterfly during the team’s home meet last Wednesday at the OZone in Osawatomie.

OSAWATOMIE – In its first time back in the water in 2021, the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg swim team put together a strong showing in its home meet at the OZone in Osawatomie.

The boys finished second out of five teams with 459 points, while Topeka-Hayden was first with 558. Coffeyville, Independence and Fort Scott took third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

“I thought the swimmers did an outstanding job,” coach Ardy Dehdasht said. “I believe everyone of our swimmers had at least one season best record. Much of this is due to their hard work at the practices and I am certainly proud of all of them.”

Paola’s Sam Johnson had the most successful day for the team as he earned a state consideration time in the 50-yard freestyle. He finished second in the event with a time of 24.85 seconds. Johnson also finished second in the 100 freestyle with a personal-best time of 55.79.

Louisburg’s Drake Baus took home the gold in the 500-yard freestyle as he won with a time of 6 minutes and 28 seconds.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Johnson, Cole Brown, Bridger Baus and Remington Rice also earned first place in 1:44.58.

Louisburg sophomore Brayton Brueggen had his best race in the 100-yard backstroke where he recorded a time of 1:06.79, which eclipsed his seeding time by almost four seconds.

Another Louisburg sophomore, Braden Branine, took first in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:13 and eclipsed his seed time by three seconds.

Osawatomie’s Luke Hebert also set multiple personal records on the day.

It was also Senior Night as the boys celebrated their one senior teammate – Bridger Baus – as he was honored with his parents during the meet.

The team is back in the water tonight when it travels to Blue Valley Northwest for a meet. It is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.