TOPEKA — It has been quite the first week for the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg boys swim team — especially for the four Wildcat swimmers.

In a five-day span, Louisburg has qualified for the state meet in two different events already and the Wildcats have also earned several state consideration times.

It all started Saturday at the Lansing Relays. The Louisburg relay team of Brayton Brueggen, Andrew Jamison, Colin Brown and Colton Prettyman qualified for state in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 52.12 seconds.

“We were so proud of our swimmers for that amazing state qualifying swim,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “It really was a sweet moment after working so hard for the last couple of years and not quite qualifying.  There was a lot of excitement on the pool deck. The team overall did a great job in the pool and supporting each other from the sidelines like a true team. It’s going to be a great season with these fine gentlemen.”

It was just a taste of what was to come.

On Wednesday at the Topeka-Hayden Invitational, Brown, a freshman, punched his ticket to state once again — this time as an individual. Brown won the 100-yard butterfly in 56.50 seconds, and in doing so, earned a state qualification time. 

“Colin Brown swam a fantastic 100 butterfly and really made a statement with his commanding swim,” Argeropoulos said. “He simply outswam the competition last night. We are proud to see him represent OzPaLou swim at state.”

The Miami County team also posted six state consideration times as those participants try and chip away at a state qualification mark.

Brueggen, Brown, Jamison and Prettyman earned qualification times in both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The team finished first in the 200 relay and later finished fourth in the 400 relay.

“We were happy to shave off more time for a better consideration time for the Louisburg 200 free relay and will continue to reach for that qualification time,” Argeropoulos said. “In the 400 free relay, they  showed true grit after a difficult schedule (they all swam the 2 events just prior to this difficult race) and laid down a great starting point to work for an automatic qualifying time in this event.”

Along with his mark in the 100 butterfly, Brown earned a state consideration time in the 100 backstroke. Jamison, a freshman, also earned consideration times in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke where he took second and third, respectively.

Paola freshman Landen Terflinger also earned a state consideration time in the 100 freestyle. As group, Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg took fourth in the team standings out of nine squads.

In his two individual events, Brueggen was fifth in the both the 200 IM and 100 backstrokes, while Prettyman was fifth out of 55 swimmers in the 50 freestyle and was fifth in the 100 breaststroke.

The team will compete in its home opener on Dec. 12 in Osawatomie. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m.

Louisburg freshman Sabra Brueggen medaled fifth in the 100 backstroke at the state swim meet on May 21 in Lenexa.

LENEXA — Even though she is just a freshman, Sabra Brueggen is already putting a stamp on her high school swim career at Louisburg High School.

It all came to a rousing end on May 21 as Brueggen earned her first state medal at the Class 5-1A Kansas State Swim and Diving Championships at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center.

Brueggen became the first swimmer in school history to earn a state medal as she finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.58.

On the day before in the preliminaries, Brueggen also took fifth in a season-best time of 1:00.15.

“Medaling as freshman means the world to me, and it proves to me that all of my hard work for all of these years, has paid off,” Brueggen said. “I feel like I performed my absolute best at state, and I was very happy with the results. It gives me confidence that I will have a bright future representing OzPaLou at the state swim meets.”

She nearly had a second medal in the 50 freestyle. Brueggen put together a season-best time of 25.26 seconds, but finished ninth overall. It was the same finish she had the in the preliminaries.

The top eight in each event earn a state medal as she was just .06 away from earning another spot on the medal stand.

“Placing ninth in the 50 free started a fire in me,” Brueggen said. “I’m determined to push even harder to earn a top eight finish, not in just one event, but both my events next year. However, swimming a lifetime best in the 50 free this year at state has challenged me to work even harder to accomplish my future goals.”

Brueggen had a memorable season for the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg swim program as she became the first swimmer to qualify for state in all eight of her individual events.

Getting off to a good start in her high school career has only left Brueggen wanting more.

“I’m very excited to see what next year brings, and I’m so thankful for all of my coaches this year that have supported and encouraged me in all of my endeavors,” Brueggen said. “I’m confident that the future of the OzPaLou swim team is bright.”

Louisburg freshman Sabra Brueggen will compete in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke at the Class 5-1A state swim meet this weekend in Lenexa.

Sabra Brueggen made a name for herself this season in the high school swim world as she became the first Louisburg swimmer to qualify for state in all eight individual events.

Brueggen will compete against the best the state has to offer beginning Friday at the Class 5-1A Kansas State Swim Championships.

She will also do it as a freshman, but big meets are nothing to new to Brueggen. She has swam competitively for much of her young life and has faced some big challenges along the way.

The state meet is just another one of those stops for Brueggen.

“I have swam against older swimmers my whole life, and this is no exception,” Brueggen said. “I’m a little bit nervous, because it’s important in how I represent myself with all the expectations that have been set on me. However I’m confident in my training and I will trust in myself for rising to the occasion.”

Preliminaries for the 5-1A state meet begin at 9 a.m. on Friday at the Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center in Lenexa. The top 16 in each race will compete in the finals beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Swimmers are only allowed to compete in two individual events at state, so Brueggen went with the ones that are most familiar to her — the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke.

Going into the competition, Brueggen currently has the fifth fastest time in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.47 and is currently a favorite to get a medal in the event.

Brueggen is currently sitting 11th in the 50 freestyle in 25.86 seconds. The top eight in each event receive a state medal.

“I have always dreamed of this moment, since I was a little girl swimming for the (Louisburg) Barracudas, and now that it is here, I have a lot of expectations for myself,” Brueggen said. “My goal is to place top eight in both my events, more specifically I want to place top three in my 100 back. The first step is believing in myself, and with all the support I have around me, I know I will have a successful weekend.”

Although the state meet is quickly approaching, she knows it can’t get here fast enough and Brueggen is thankful for all the support and help she received this season competing for the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg swim team.

“Representing Louisburg at the state meet as a freshman has been a dream of mine since I was young,” she said. “It means the world to me to have this opportunity, and I couldn’t have done it without all of the people that have helped me along the way.”

Louisburg junior Dana Mattison swims the freestyle in Osawatomie on Wednesday during the team’s final regular season meet of the season.

OSAWATOMIE — The Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg girls swim team hosted its final regular season meet of the season Wednesday as it competed in the Osawatomie Invitational.

The Miami County squad took part in the 8-team meet and ended its regular season strong with a finish in the upper-half of the team standings.

Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg took fourth overall with 310 points. Fort Scott won the meet with 447 points and Independence was second with 359.

It was also Senior Night as the team honored seniors Bri Shippy, Emma Johnson and Emma Boehm, along with their parents, for their time with the program.

However it was a freshman that led the Miami County team on Wednesday.

Louisburg freshman Sabra Brueggen finished first in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes and 24.49 seconds and won the event by 10 seconds.

Brueggen later went on to finish second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5 minutes and 48 seconds. She has already qualified for state in all eight individual events.

Ashley Branine, Janie Harth, Dana Mattison and Brueggen also finished runner-up in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:59. Branine, Cadence Weichert, Mattison and Brueggen finished third in the 400 freestyle relay in a season-best time of 4:30.

Mattison had a runner-up finish in the 200 freestyle with a season-best time of 2:28.11, while Shippy was sixth in the event in 2:41. Mattison also finished fifth in the 100 freestyle in another season-best time of 1:07 and Branine was sixth in 1:08.

Addie Stuebner led the Miami County team in the 100 butterfly as she was fourth in 1:21 and sixth in the 100 backstroke in 1:13.

Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg will now enter postseason competition as the team will host the Independent League meet Wednesday at the Ozone in Osawatomie.

Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg take sixth at Topeka West

The Miami County team made the trip to Topeka on April 26 for the Topeka West Invitational.

The meet, which featured several bigger schools, provided a lot of competition but Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg took sixth with 195 points out of 12 teams.

Freshman Sabra Brueggen led the way as she won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03.26 and took third in the 100 freestyle in 56.91 seconds.

Addie Stuebner also had a top three finish as she took third in the 100 backstroke in 1:14.

Brueggen, Ashley Branine, Dana Mattison and Janie Harth were fourth in the 200 medley relay in 2:16 and fifth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:59.

Mattison had a pair top 10 finishes as she took seventh in the 500 freestyle in 6:46 and ninth in the 200 individual medley in 2:59. Branine was ninth in the 50 freestyle in 29.29 seconds.

Louisburg freshman Sabra Brueggen recorded four state qualifying times last week at Topeka-Hayden and Blue Valley Southwest.

OVERLAND PARK — Sabra Brueggen already had four state qualifying times going into last week’s competitions at Topeka-Hayden and Blue Valley Southwest.

After it was all over, Brueggen now has double that amount.

The Louisburg freshman qualified for state in four more events — two in each meet — after it was all said and done. Brueggen has now qualified for state in every individual event.

“She will be swimming repeats and trying to post faster personal times from now until the end of the season,” swim coach Mary Argeropoulos said.

On Saturday at the Timberwolf Invitational at Blue Valley Southwest High School, the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg swim team went up against several bigger programs and took sixth with 84. Mill Valley won the meet with 261 points. 

Brueggen qualified for state in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.86 seconds and took second overall. She later qualified in the 100 breaststroke as she was second with a time of 1:13.09.

The 200 medley relay of Cadence Weichert, Bri Shippy, Addie Stuebner and Emma Boehm was seventh in 2:15.

Stuebner also recorded a top 10 finish in the 100 butterfly as she was eighth in 1:20.

Brueggen, Janie Harth, Shippy and Stuebner were 11th in the 200 freestyle relay in 2:13, while Brueggen, Emma Johnson, Harth and Weichert were seventh in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:44.

“This past week was a tough week,” Argeropoulos said. “We had three meets (Tuesday & Wednesday both travel days back to back) and had to deal with missing swimmers and injuries. The girls rose to the challenge and performed well in all three meets stepping in for holes as needed. They continue to shave time off across the board and we are looking forward to pushing hard into the last of our season.”

Last Wednesday, the team traveled to Topeka for the Hayden Invitational and was fourth with 298 points.

Brueggen won the 200-yard freestyle with a state qualifying time of 2:09.91 and teammate Dana Mattison was fifth at 2:36. Brueggen was second in the 100 butterfly with another state qualifying time of 1:05.20.

In the 200 freestyle relay, Brueggen, Harth, Mattison and Stuebner earned a state consideration time in 1:56.99 and took first overall.

The 200 medley relay of Weichert, Stuebner, Mattison and Brueggen finished runner-up in 2:18.

Stuebner went on to take third in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke, while Harth and Weichert were fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 50 freestyle. Weichert also took fifth in the 100 freestyle, while Harth was fourth in the 100 breaststroke.

Shippy, Weichert, Ashlynn Willard and Harth ended the meet with a fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.

TOPEKA — The Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg team took its nine swimmers to the Topeka High Invitational last Wednesday to compete against some of the bigger schools in the area.

The Miami County team left with a strong finish as it took fifth overall with 166 points out of 10 teams. Lawrence Free State won with 611 and Washburn Rural was second at 423.

Throw in the fact freshman Sabra Brueggen qualified for state in two more events, and it was a successful outing for the group.

“We are incredibly proud of our girls for posting such a great meet with amazing teamwork and individual efforts,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “With 9 swimmers it was quite a feat to represent so well.  Each of the other teams had at least twice as many swimmers. It takes careful planning and spreading out the workload amongst the entire team. 

“Swimmers have to really be willing to ‘take one for the team’ and perhaps swim events that they wouldn’t normally pick to swim in order to earn the most team points possible. Each relay has to step up as well and score well to be competitive. This team is executing everything we are asking of them and more.”

Brueggen finished second in the 500-yard freestyle and qualified for state in the event in 5 minutes and 47.13 seconds. The Louisburg freshman also finished third in the 200 individual medley in a state qualifying time of 2:23.28.

She has now qualified for state in four events after competing in just her third meet.

“It is a privilege to be able to watch an athlete of her caliber in your program,” Argeropoulos said. “We appreciate her fun attitude and joy she brings to the group. She asked to swim the 500 this week and graciously agreed to swim the individual medley to score points for the team. 

“We are proud of her pushing out of her comfort zone in the distance events and are so pleased that she set a new personal record in the 500. She will continue to post qualifying times and we look forward to personal time improvements across the board for Sabra.”

Brueggen, along with Ashley Branine, Dana Mattison and Janie Harth took fourth in the 200 freestyle relay, with a time of 1:58.98, which was close to a state consideration time.

Mattison earned eighth-place finishes in the 200 freestyle and recorded a personal-best time in the 500 freestyle in 6:48.57.

Branine took ninth in the 100 freestyle in 1:08.45 and finished 14th out of 109 swimmers in the 50 freestyle in 30.02. Harth was right behind Branine in 15th in 30.73.

Paola’s Addie Stuebner also had a pair of top 10 finishes as she was seventh in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.

The 400 relay team of Stuebner, Emma Boehm, Cadence Weichert and Bri Shippy took ninth, while the medley relay of Boehm, Emma Johnson, Stuebner and Weichert finished 10th overall.

The Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg team is back in action today as it competes at 4 p.m. at Blue Valley Northwest.

Louisburg freshman Sabra Brueggen swims the 100-yard backstroke last Wednesday during the team’s season opener in Osawatomie.

OSAWATOMIE — It didn’t take long for Sabra Brueggen to make a big impact for the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg girls swim team.

Last Wednesday, the Louisburg freshman earned state qualification times in two events during the team’s home opener In Osawatomie.

Brueggen won the 50-yard freestyle in 26.04 seconds and later captured the 100 backstroke in 1:03.82 to qualify for state in both events

“Sabra comes to our OzPaLou team and brings a ton of talent and experience with her,” coach Mary Argeropoulos said. “We are looking forward to seeing her excel in her choice of events this year as she continues to improve her personal best times. She has set a goal to place in the top 5 in the state meet.   Sabra certainly is a boost to our team and will play a big role in inching our relays towards state times as well.”

As a team, the Miami County squad finished second in their home opener by three points to Topeka-Hayden, 481-478.

Although there are only 10 swimmers on the team this year, including five from Louisburg, Argeropoulos is excited to see the girls compete this season.

“We are looking forward to building on traditions from past years,” she said. “We have three strong senior girls leading our team. We have one junior, two sophomores, and four freshmen out this season and each girl is pulling their weight for the team. We expect to see lots of personal records set for the season and are looking to post some qualifying and consideration times for state.”

Junior Dana Mattison returns as the eldest member of the team from Louisburg and is joined by Brueggen, sophomore Ashley Branine and freshmen Cadence Weichart and Janie Harth.

On Wednesday, Brueggen also helped a pair of relays to victories as well. Brueggen, along with Emma Johnson, Addie Stuebner and Branine won the 200-yard medley relay in 2:13.94.

Mattison, Branine, Weichart and Brueggen won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:59.73, while Bri Shippy, Weichart, Harth and Stuebner won the 400 freestyle relay in 4:58.72.

Branine won a pair of individual events as she took first in the 100 freestyle (1:06) and 100 breaststroke (1:29)

Mattison also won two events as she took first in the 500 freestyle in 6:56 and the 200 individual medley in 2:53.

Stuebner and Harth were second and third, respectively, in the 50 freestyle. Shippy was second in the 500 freestyle and Stuebner was runner-up in the 100 backstroke. Johnson took second in the 100 breaststroke.

Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg is back in action today in Topeka.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week two of the spring sports season, sponsored by IronHorse Family and Cosmetic Dentistry.

SABRA BRUEGGEN, FRESHMAN, SOFTBALL/GIRLS SWIM

Louisburg freshman Sabra Brueggen made big contributions to two different teams for the Wildcats last week. It started on the softball field on Mar. 29 as Brueggen collected four hits, including a 2-run double in the first game, to help the Lady Cats to a sweep of Baldwin. She also scored four runs and had two stolen bases.

Last Wednesday, Brueggen hit the waters for the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg girls swim team and qualified for state in two events in her first meet of the season. Brueggen recorded a time of 26.04 seconds to qualify for state and win the 50-yard freestyle. She later went on to win the 100 backstroke and recorded a state qualifying time of 1:03.82.

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: Lexi Hampton

Louisburg senior Cole Brown finished second in the 200-yard individual medley, and also helped two relays to runner-up finishes, Wednesday at the Independent League Championships in Osawatomie.

OSAWATOMIE — In its final team meet of the season, the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg boys swim team left the waters with a strong performance.

The Miami County team finished second Wednesday at the Independent League Championships that was held at the Ozone in Osawatomie.

OZ-PAO-LOU racked up 388 points to finish runner-up to league champion Piper, which ended with 425 points.

Although they didn’t have any first place finishes, the Miami County crew had several runner-up individual performances and also took second in all three relays.

Brayton Brueggen, Braden Branine, Remington Rice and Cooper Hipp took second in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:57.23, while Rice, Colton Prettyman, Cole Brown and Hipp were second in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.65.

Sam Johnson, Luke Hebert, Drake Baus and Brown were runner-up in the 400-yard freestyle relay in time of 3:51.84.

Brueggen, a junior at Louisburg High School, finished second in the 100 backstrokes with a time of 1:06.17, while teammate Baus (1:11) and Evan Retinger were fifth and sixth, respectively. Bruggen also took third in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:11.05 and Hebert was second in 2:09.

Brown, who is a senior at Louisburg, had a strong performance in the 200 individual medley as he was runner-up with a time of 2:24. Branine, a junior, was fourth in 2:38.52.

Branine, another Louisburg swimmer, competed well in the 100 breaststroke as he was second in 1:13.88. Prettyman also took fourth in the event in 1:18.

In the 100 freestyle, Rice, Brown and Hipp were sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, in the seven.

Paola’s Sam Johnson was second in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 59.86 seconds, while Drake Burdine, another Louisburg senior, was fifth in a season-best time of 1:12.47. Jace Retinger was sixth in 1:17.

Johnson also went on to finish third in the 50 freestyle in 24.84, while Hebert was second in the 500 freestyle in 6:00.39.

The Louisburg 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams will find out soon if they will qualify for the state meet this weekend in Topeka. Both have earned consideration times, as did Paola’s Sam Johnson, during the season.

Here is the Louisburg Sports Zone Athlete of the Week for week six of the winter sports season, sponsored by IronHorse Family and Cosmetic Dentistry.

COLE BROWN, SENIOR, BOYS SWIMMING

Louisburg senior Cole Brown had an impressive outing for the Osawatomie-Paola-Louisburg boys swim team in his first meet of 2022. Brown helped the Miami County team to a victory in the five team home meet and won three events in the process.

Brown won the 200-yard individual medley and 100 freestyle and set personal best times in both events. He later joined Colton Prettyman, Cooper Hipp and Sam Johnson to win the 200 freestyle relay. Brown also helped 400 freestyle relay team to a second place team finish. Yesterday at Blue Valley Northwest, Brown was a part of the 200 freestyle relay team that earned a state consideration time.

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: Elijah Eslinger

Week 2: Maverick Rockers

Week 3: Aiden Barker

Week 4: Kaven Bartlett

Week 5: Michael Seuferling