Wildcat swim makes history earning five medals at state

TOPEKA — The Louisburg boys swim program is still relatively new compared to other teams around the state, but the Wildcats made its presence felt Friday and Saturday at the Class 5-1A state meet in Topeka.

Louisburg had its best postseason finish in its young history as the Wildcats finished eighth overall in the team standings with 104 points thanks in part to just four swimmers.

Two of those athletes — Colin Brown and Andrew Jamison — each brought home individual medals. Brown, Jamison, Colton Prettyman and Noah Sharp also medaled in the 200-yard medley relay.

“This year felt like a whole new experience from last year,” Jamison said. “From me making it into an ‘A’ Final and our medley relay making it to an ‘A’ final, brought the competition to a whole new level. Everything felt more intense and felt like we had more pressure on us to preform well but it was still a fun and overall positive experience. Getting the team into the top eight with only 4 swimmers was a big accomplishment for us especially going up against teams that have up to three times as many people.”

Almost every time a Louisburg swimmer hit the pool, whether it was in the preliminaries or the final, a new personal best time was recorded.

That was certainly the case for Brown, who was the team’s lone returning state medalist from a year ago as a freshman. He was able to triple his medal count this season.

Brown competed in the 100-yard butterfly and finished fourth overall with a personal best time of 53.84 seconds, which was nearly two seconds better than his seed time.

He did the same in the 100 backstroke as he medaled fifth in 55.53 seconds, which was another personal best.

“I am very satisfied with how I did in both of my individual events,” Brown said. “They were both personal records and I had a lot of fun swimming both of them. To medal for a second straight year, not only in one event this year but two was a surreal feeling that I hope to repeat next year.”

Jamison also picked up two individual medals after making the consolation finals last year as a freshman. 

He shaved two seconds off his personal best time in the 200 individual medley to take fifth in the finals after finishing seventh in the prelims. 

Jamison then went on to take sixth in the 100 breaststroke in 1 minute and 1.88 seconds, which was another personal best time by more than a second.

“I was very pleased with my races this past weekend,” Jamison said. “My 200 IM exceeded my expectations in time and placement. My 100 breaststroke goal this season was a 59, and that was a very tough goal, but I am still pleased with what I swam. 

“Getting a medal individually was a really cool experience. It did add a lot of pressure in prelims to secure that ‘A’ final spot and once I did there was a moment of relief, but then the pressure of preforming set in. Even with all that it was still an amazing experience I will never forget.”

The Wildcats started the meet by competing in the 200 medley relay, and it set the stage for what was to come.

Brown, Jamison, Prettyman and Sharp shaved more than five seconds off their seed time to medal sixth overall in 1:42.93, after finishing seventh in the prelims.

The quartet nearly medaled in another relay, but just missed out in the 200 freestyle as they took ninth in a personal best time of 1:34.66.

“The relay swims were probably my favorite part of the meet, and to be in the first relay to make an ‘A’ final in Louisburg history is an honor,” Brown said. “With everyone in the relay returning next year I am hoping for even better results.”

Although he didn’t reach the medal stand, Prettyman still scored team points for Louisburg. He made the consolation finals in the 50 freestyle and finished 13th overall in 23.35, which was another personal best.

He also competed in the 100 breaststroke and took 20th in 1:07.50.

Other members of the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill team competed at state. Osawatomie’s Luke Hebert finished 15th in the 50 freestyle and 16th in the 100 butterfly.

Paola’s Landen Terflinger was 21st in the 200 freestyle and 23rd in the 50 freestyle. Spring Hill’s Dylan Mabe was 19th in the 100 backstroke.