OSAWATOMIE — The Louisburg boys swim team continue to rack up state times and the latest bunch came at its home quad on Dec. 18 in Osawatomie. 

Juniors Colin Brown, Andrew Jamison and senior Colton Prettyman all recorded new state qualification times, while the Wildcats also earned state times in a pair of relays. Prettyman and Jamison each had a state consideration time as well.

The Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill team also finished first with 564 points in the four-team meet with Independence, Fort Scott and Parsons.

“We are thrilled to be in the position we are,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “It’s not by accident that times are dropping. The boys are putting the work in day after day and it’s really rewarding for them to see those personal best times at meets.  

“At not quite halfway through the season, we are happy to have such a positive place on the state qualification and consideration placements. Looking forward we aren’t content to stay in this spot. We will push hard to keep this momentum and continue to knock down those qualifying times.”

Brown cruised to a pair of first place finishes in his two individual events and earned state times in both. He won the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes and 10.45 seconds and also took the top spot in the 100 freestyle in 52.49 seconds.

As for Jamison, he earned a spot at state in the 100 breaststroke in a qualifying time of 1:05.30 and finished first. He took the top spot in the 50 freestyle as well with a state consideration time of 24.44 seconds.

Prettyman secured a state spot in the 100 butterfly as he won in a qualifying time 58.12 seconds. He later took first in the 200 freestyle in a consideration time of 2:00.22.

Brown, Prettyman, Jamison and sophomore Noah Sharp have now qualified for state in all three relays. After earning a spot in the 200 medley earlier in the year, they have now clinched entries in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

The Wildcat quartet won the 200 freestyle in 1:35.69 and ended the meet with a first place performance in the 400 freestyle in 3:40.

Sharp finished with a pair of runner-up performances in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Louisburg’s Brock Delmez earned personal best times in all his events, including a first place finish in the 500 freestyle in 6:26 and he also took fourth the 50 freestyle.

Bennett Mendez was fourth in the 100 backstroke and fifth in the 100 freestyle.

Paola’s Landen Terflinger earned a state qualification in the 100 backstroke as he won in 1:00.76 and also had a state consideration time in the 100 butterfly as he took second.

The Miami County team will be back in the pool on Jan. 16 at Olathe Northwest.

It was just the second meet of the season, but the Louisburg boys swim team is already racking up state qualifying times.

After earning a state bid in the 200-yard medley relay to begin the season, a pair of Wildcat swimmers recorded two state times on Dec. 11 at the Topeka-Hayden Invitational.

Senior Colton Prettyman and junior Colin Brown officially earned spots at the state meet as each qualified in two events.

In the process, the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill team finished third overall with 297 points out of nine teams. Washburn Rural won the meet with 488 points and Piper was second at 367.

Brown had three first place finishes on the day, including two individual events. He posted a state qualifying time of 1 minute and 54 seconds to win the 200 freestyle.

He later posted another state time of 59.74 seconds in the 100 backstroke to finish first. Brown also joined Noah Sharp, Spring Hill’s Nic Terblance and Paola’s Landen Terflinger to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:50.

As for Prettyman, he secured a spot in the 100 breaststroke after winning with a time of 1:07.29. He also captured a state time in the 50 freestyle with a personal best of 23.36 seconds to take first.

Sharp put together a pair of strong performances of his own. The Louisburg sophomore earned state consideration times in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

He finished second in the 100 butterfly in 1:02.97 and also took runner-up in the 100 backstroke in a personal best of 1:03.96.

Brown, Prettyman, Terblance and Terflinger finished second in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.

Terflinger earned a state qualifying time in the 100 freestyle as he took first in a personal best of 52.20. He also had a state consideration time in the 200 individual medley in 2:21.

The team is back in action today with a home meet at the Ozone in Osawatomie. Events begin at 4 p.m.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week two of the winter sports season, sponsored by Landmark National Bank.

COLIN BROWN, JUNIOR, SWIMMING

Louisburg junior Colin Brown is off to a good start to his season for the Wildcat swim team as he posted two state qualifying times during the Topeka-Hayden Invitational last week. Brown won the the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke and qualified for state in both races. He was also a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay that took first.

It wasn’t the first state time of the season for Brown as he, Andrew Jamison, Colton Prettyman and Noah Sharp posted a state qualifying time in the 200 medley relay in their season opener earlier this month. Brown is coming off a sophomore campaign where he earned two individual state medals and another in a relay.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the winter season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Previous winners:

Week 1: Gavin Lohse

The Louisburg boys swim team certainly has high hopes for the 2024-25 season and for good reason.

After medaling in five events at state last season, the Wildcats return everyone back as they gear up for another run at the state podium. 

The Wildcats were able to get off to a great start Saturday at the Lansing Relays. The Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill team recorded their highest ever finish at the Lansing meet as it took second overall with 110 points, which was 35 points behind the champion, Manhattan.

“The coaching staff is simply thrilled with our Lansing outing this season,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “For the first meet of the year we had tons of personal best times, everyone completing their piece of the puzzle successfully, clean starts, finishes, exchanges, and fast swims made for a super fun day.  We were so proud to bring home that second place plaque.”

The Louisburg 200-yard medley relay of Colin Brown, Andrew Jamison, Colton Prettyman and Noah Sharp, which medaled at state a year ago, picked up right where they left off. 

The Wildcat quartet took first overall with a time of 1 minute and 43.68 seconds and earned a state qualifying time in the process.

All four swimmers return to lead the charge again for the Wildcats this season. Brown and Jamison each won a pair of state medals a year ago, while Prettyman returns after qualifying in the 100 breaststroke.

Brown, a junior, took fourth place in the 100 butterfly last season and was fifth in the 100 backstroke. As for Jamison, he also returns after a strong sophomore campaign after he took fifth at state in the 200 IM and sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

Sophomore Brock Delmez returns to the team as he was a state alternate a year ago. The Wildcats will also have a pair of new swimmers in senior Nathaniel Phillis and freshman Bennett Mendez.

“We are totally pumped to have all our swimmers from Louisburg returning for another year of success,” Argeropoulos said. “We are adding a couple of new swimmers this season in senior Nathaniel and Bennett. Our returners have all put a lot of work in during the off season and have come back stronger and faster than they ended last season.

“We are expecting our state individualists to quickly qualify their events again this season and put themselves in a great position to fight for top medals at the state meet. They truly are picking up where they left off and making that their new floor as they move forward into the 2024-25 season.”

At Lansing, the Miami County team came away with several other medals, including a first place finish in the 4×100 IM Relay. Jamison, Prettyman, Brown and Paola’s Landen Terflinger took the top spot in 4:01.31.

The group of Prettyman, Terflinger, Sharp and Brown finished second in the 200 butterfly relay, while Prettyman, Terflinger, Jamison and Osawatmie’s LJ Kerr were second in the 200 breaststroke relay.

Brown, Sharp and Spring HIll’s Tag Solberg and Nic Terblance medaled third in the 200 backstroke relay.

The team is back in action tonight as they travel to the Topeka High Invitational.

LENEXA — For the third straight season, Sabra Brueggen left the Class 5-1A state swim meet with some hardware.

The Louisburg junior showed why she is among the state’s best as she earned a fourth place medal in the 200-yard individual medley — her first ever state medal in that event — Saturday at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center.

The 2-day meet provided a lot of ups, and some downs, for the Louisburg swim program, but for Brueggen it was nice to return to the medal stand.

“I was very happy and content with my 200 IM swims last weekend,” Brueggen said. “Not only did I set a new personal best time, but I also walked away with fourth place in an event that is not one of my primaries.”

Brueggen, who shaved six seconds off her previous best time of the season after the preliminaries Friday, sat with the fourth-best time going into the finals.

Then on Saturday, she followed it up with her best swim ever as she set a personal best time of 2 minutes and 11.95 seconds to take fourth.

Brueggen continued her strong performance in the 100 backstroke prelims Friday as she recorded a time of 58.56 seconds — her best of the season — and had the second fastest time going into the finals.

She had a medal all but wrapped up it seemed, however Saturday met with disappointment for Brueggen. She was disqualified after she surpassed the 15 meter mark underwater.

The 100 backstroke was an event she had medaled in the last two seasons, but a mistake stopped an attempt at three straight.

“I was very excited going into day two ranked second in the 100 back,” Brueggen said. “However, finals did not go as planned. After medaling my past two seasons in this event, getting disqualified in it was very tough mentally and was not the way I wanted to end the successful weekend. By surpassing the 15 meter mark with my underwaters, I forfeited my ultimate goals to end the season with two state medals and making the all-state team.”

It made it difficult for Brueggen as she still had one race left to swim — the 400 freestyle relay. On Friday, the team of Brueggen, Cadence Weichert, Ella Bockelman and Janie Harth dropped nearly two seconds off their best time and qualified for the consolation finals in 14th in 4:07.92.

In the consolation finals, the team ended up finishing 15th overall in 4:08.70.

Weichert, Brueggen, Harth and Bockelman also made the consolation finals in the 200 medley relay. In the prelims on Friday, the team dropped more than four seconds off their best time to take 12th in 2:03.02. 

In the finals, the four Wildcats swimmers finished in 12th again in 2:03.75. It was a memorable meet all around for the Louisburg team.

“The success that came through our relays this past weekend allowed for lasting memories to be made,” Brueggen said. “To be able to swim at the state level with these teammates was truly an unforgettable experience. Making it back to the consolation finals in both these relays was also very exciting and I can’t wait to see how much relay success we can have next year at the state level, hopefully leading to everyone bringing home a state medal.”

The Wildcats also swam in a pair of other events on Friday in prelims.

Harth competed in the 50 freestyle and took 24th overall in 27.78 seconds, while Harth, Weichert, Bockelman and Talen McMurray swam in the 200 freestyle relay and finished 22nd in 1:56.

The Louisburg girls swim team is becoming more and more of a fixture at the state level and the Wildcats will be well-represented again at the Class 5-1A state meet this weekend.

Five Wildcats will compete among the best the state has to offer as they try to bring home state medals. Juniors Sabra Brueggen, Janie Harth and Cadence Weichert, along with freshmen Ella Bockelman and Talen McMurray, will hit the waters at the Shawnee Mission Aquatic Center in Lenexa beginning Friday morning.

“The level of anticipation is crazy at this point,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “We are so proud of these hard working ladies. They have pushed and pushed this season, and in previous seasons, to put themselves in the place they find themselves. It’s certainly not by accident.”

Brueggen has the most state experience in the group as this will be her third state meet. Last season, she came home with two state medals and earned another one as a freshman.

She will swim in the preliminaries of the 200-yard individual medley, along with the 100 backstroke — an event she has medaled in the last two seasons.

“I am so excited to compete at state again this year, and I am even more excited to see how much success we can put together in our three relays that are competing,” Brueggen said. “This weekend I am hoping to swim personal best times in all of my events as well as medal top eight in my individuals and maybe even a relay.”

As for Harth, she will just be the second Wildcat in school history to participate in an individual event as she qualified in the 50 freestyle in 27.22 seconds.

Harth, along with Weichert, participated in the state meet last season in a pair of relays with Brueggen. They will do the same again this season.

Brueggen, Harth, Weichert and freshman Ella Bockelman will swim the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. They are currently sitting with the 22nd and 17th fastest times, respectively.

McMurray will join Harth, Weichert and Bockelman in the 200 freestyle relay as they are currently 19th.

“We have been laser-focused in these last few weeks, nailing down all the fine details of our swims and relay pieces,” Argeropoulos said. “We are expecting fast swims with beautiful exchanges as Cadence, Janie and Sabra introduce the freshmen girls to state competition. We are right within striking distance for relays to place in the top 16 and will want each swimmer to put together their best during prelims.  

“It’s truly thrilling to have Janie join the fastest girls in the state in the 50 Free and we’d love to see an all time personal best from her on Friday. Sabra is capable of repeating on the medal podium in both of her events this weekend and we look forward to another great backstroke race and can’t wait to see how she puts together her new try at the 200 IM.”

Although Brueggen has experienced a lot of success individually at the state level, she is looking forward to seeing what she can accomplish with her teammates.

“I am so excited for all five of the Louisburg girls to get experience and swim at the state meet,” Brueggen said. “We worked hard all season to get these state cuts and to actually accomplish them means that we now have the opportunity to make lasting memories together at this competitive meet.”

Prelims begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, with the finals and consolation finals beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week eight of the spring sports season, sponsored by Dr. Laura’s Orthdontics.

SABRA BRUEGGEN, JUNIOR, GIRLS SWIMMING

Louisburg junior Sabra Brueggen has put together another memorable swim campaign as she hopes to make a lot of noise at the Class 5-1A state swim meet this Friday. Last week, Brueggen won the ILC league title in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke as she helped the Osawatomie-Paola-Spring Hill-Louisburg swim team to a third place finish.

On the season, Brueggen qualified for state in eight individual events. Along with that, she will join Janie Harth, Cadence Weichert and Ella Bockelman as the Louisburg quartet also qualified for state in all three relays. At the league meet last week, Brueggen was also member of the 200 medley relay that won a league title, and swam a leg of the 200 free relay that finished as a runner-up.

The athlete of the week award is announced every Wednesday morning during the spring season and the winner is selected by Louisburg Sports Zone with the help of nominations from coaches.

Previous Winners:

Week 1: Jack Anderson

Week 2: Nathaniel Lamm

Week 3: Derek Frederick

Week 4: Izzy Moreland

Week 5: Maddy Carpenter-Ross

Week 6: Jaden Bentz

Week 7: Cooper Wingfield

OSAWATOMIE — In what was the last regular season meet of the season, Sabra Brueggen closed it out in style.

Brueggen qualified for state in the 500-yard freestyle last Wednesday at the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill Invitational that was held at the OZone in Osawatomie.

Not only that, but the Louisburg junior has now qualified for state in every individual event and will have her choice of two to compete in at the state meet later this month. She has also qualified in all three relays for the Wildcats as well

On top of it all, the Miami County team also won their home meet with 491 points as it edged Independence (485) and Fort Scott (450) for the title.

“The swimmers are doing a great job managing the middle of the season hump,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “They continue to push themselves in practice to be their best everyday and that hard work is showing itself in the pool with gains.”

Brueggen earned a pair of gold medals as she won the 500 freestyle with a time of 5 minutes and 34 seconds. She won the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.71.

Louisburg junior Janie Harth improved her state consideration time in the 100 freestyle as she took third in 1:01.37. She was also third in the 200 individual medley in 2:48.33.

Another junior, Cadence Weichert, took gold in the 100 butterfly in 1:13.23 and was fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:29.

Freshman Ella Bockelman took third in the 100 backstroke in 1:15.87, while fellow freshman Talen McMurray was sixth in the 200 individual medley.

The Miami County team also did well in the relays. Brueggen, Weichert, Harth and Spring Hill’s Camden Strickland won the 200 medley relay in 2:04.

Bockelman, Maryanne McNally, Meg Johnson and Weichert were second in the 200 free relay in 2:03, while Strickland, Harth, McNally and Brueggen won the 400 free relay in 4:12.

Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill will now compete in the Independent League Championships at 4 p.m. today and will be held at the OZone in Osawatomie.

OVERLAND PARK — Although the program is still relatively new, the Louisburg girls swim team made school history Saturday at Blue Valley Southwest.

The Wildcats qualified their third relay for state as the 200 freestyle relay team of Sabra Brueggen, Cadence Weichert, Janie Harth and Ella Bockelman had a state qualifying time of 1 minute and 51.75 seconds and took fourth overall. It is the first time in school history that they will send all three relays to the state meet.

As a team, Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill finished fifth overall with 131 points in the 9-team meet.

Brueggen led Louisburg with a pair of third place medals. The Wildcat junior took third in the 50 freestyle in 26.02 seconds and third in the 100 freestyle in 56.51 seconds.

Harth, another junior, also earned a medal as she took third in the 100 backstroke in 1:13.

Harth, Weichert, Brueggen and Spring Hill’s Camden Strickland took third in the 200 medley relay in 2:06.94. Weichert also took sixth in the 200 individual medley in 2:45, while Spring Hill’s Maryanne McNally medaled third in the 500 freestyle.

As a team, the program also recorded 27 personal best times.

The Miami County team also had a lot of success on April 23 at the Topeka West Invitational.

They recorded 25 new personal best times and finished second overall with 301.5 points in the 10-team meet.

Brueggen won a pair of gold medals and also earned a state qualification time in the 100 backstroke as she won in 1:02.38. The Louisburg junior also captured the 50 freestyle title in 26.21 seconds.

Harth went on to finish third in the 100 freestyle in a season-best time of 1:02.16 and also took fifth in the 100 backstroke. Weichert was fourth in the 100 butterfly with a personal best time of 1:12.

Brueggen, Harth, Weichert and Bockelman also helped the 200 freestyle relay to a fourth place finish in 1:53.69.

Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill returns home today as the team competes in its home invitational. Events begin at 4 p.m. at the OZone in Osawatomie.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Louisburg girls swim saw its state qualification list grow quite a bit this past week and that included a pair of relays.

At the Turner Invitational on Tuesday, the Wildcat quartet of Sabra Brueggen, Janie Harth, Cadence Weichert and Ella Bockelman qualified for state in the 400-yard freestyle relay after they finished second in the event in 4 minutes and 9.80 seconds. They shave five seconds off their previous personal best time.

A week earlier, the same four swimmers competed at the Blue Valley Northwest dual and qualified another relay. They finished second in the 200 medley relay in 2:07.38.

Brueggen also qualified for state in the 50 freestyle at Blue Valley Northwest as she took first in 26.54 seconds.

At Turner, Brueggen won the 200 freestyle in a season-best time of 2:05.79 to earn a state bid in the event. She did the same in the 100 butterfly as she took second in 1:05.23.

The Louisburg group is also close to qualifying a third relay as they earned a state consideration time in the 200 freestyle relay at Turner with a first place finish of 1:54.49.

“We are so proud of Sabra for her continued state qualifications and new personal best times,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “We are also proud of those Louisburg relays. We have discussed many times that on paper their times should add up to a qualifying time, but each swimmer has to do their part to coordinate that great race. 

“The 200 relay continues to improve but that magical moment hasn’t landed just yet. We mixed up the traditional order of swimmers for the 400 relay at Turner, and boy, did that magic show up. A state qualifying leadoff leg, followed by all new PRs all around, was a recipe for a great time. The excitement on their faces after was priceless and they are ready to zip up all three relays for state.”

The Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg-Spring Hill team finished third overall as team in what was a challenging Turner meet. They recorded 32 new personal best times.

Harth finished second in the 50 freestyle in 27.71 seconds and was third in the 100 freestyle in a new personal best time of 1:02.79. Bockelman also took third in the 100 backstroke in a personal best time of 1:15.55.

Weichert finished fifth in both the 200 freestyle and 50 freestyle.

The Miami County team lost the dual to Blue Valley Northwest last week, 503-433, but earned 38 new personal best marks. 

Bockelman finished second in the 200 freestyle and fourth in the 100 backstroke. Harth was fourth in the 200 individual medley. 

Weichert took second in the 100 butterfly and was sixth in the 100 backstroke.

On Wednesday, the team concluded what was a busy week with a meet at Topeka-Hayden and took fourth with just six swimmers. Harth led the Louisburg side with a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly and was third in the 100 backstroke.

The team is back in action this Tuesday at the Topeka West Invitational.