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State bound: Wakeland, Frisco lead group of state qualifiers
BY Chris O’Dell, codell@starlocalnews.com
The Wakeland boys swimming team entered last week’s Region 3-4A swim meet in Frisco as significant favorites.
The Wolverines didn’t disappoint, capturing top honors at the Frisco ISD Natatorium by earning 428 points to beat out second-place Frisco (302) and third-place Highland Park (273).
“I was impressed with how we did,” said Melissa Rose, Wakeland head coach. “They surpassed my expectations.”
Seal made it a Wakeland sweep for the award in the region and district meets after sophomore teammate Chase Garrott earned top honors in the District 11-4A meet.
“[Seal and Garrott] are both great athletes,” Rose said. “They are really good about challenging each other and encouraging one another.”
Seal and Garrott joined freshman Samuel Kline and senior Liam Garrott for Wakeland’s first win of the day after the group finished the 200 medley relay in 1:36.80 to beat out Highland Park (second) and Frisco (third).
The Wolverines followed that performance by dominating the 200 free, with Seal finishing first with a time of 1:39.98, Kline coming in second with a time of 1:44.30 and Mitchell Kline rounding out the top three with a finishing time of 1:45.09.
“We could kind of figure out we were the favorites and assume if we took care of business, we’d be OK,” Rose said.
Wakeland also had success on the girls side, with the Lady Wolverines taking fourth place for the highest finish in program history. However, it was Highland Park and Frisco that stood out above the rest in the girls meet. The two heavy favorites entering the meet finished with 441 and 427 points, respectively.
“I was real pleased for the most part,” said Bruce Eubanks, Frisco head coach. “Especially with our performance on Saturday in the finals.”
The Lady Raccoons kicked off the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay after the team of freshmen Mallori Allen, Rylee Lin, Hailey Jenkins and senior Allie Walsh came in at 1:50.35.
“[Lin] had a fantastic Saturday,” Eubanks said. “She just swam great.”
Frisco also had the girls Athlete of the Meet in diving after Ashleigh Dehls scored a 378.75 to beat out Liberty’s Lauren Burrell (365.05) and Prosper’s Miranda Dymond (323.15).
Liberty’s Mathew Phillip took top honors on the boys side of the one-meter diving event by scoring a 425.60 to edge out Newman Smith’s Connor Shackelford (389.30) and Frisco’s Preston Foster (346.80).
Swimming somewhat shorthanded after Highland Park qualified more girls from its district meet than Frisco did from a tough District 11-4A meet, the Lady Raccoons were outdone at the backend of multiple races.
“Highland Park scored more than 100 points in events that they would not have made it out of our district,” Eubanks said.
Rose said the stiff competition at the district meet can be a benefit for Frisco ISD teams and can also be harmful.
“Our district is one of the toughest districts in the state,” she said. “It helps in the fact that they know they have to go fast.”
Lone Star completed Saturday’s event with a ninth-place finish on the girls side and 14th in the boys meet. Centennial took seventh in girls and 12th on the boys side, while Heritage earned 13th in girls and sixth in boys and Liberty ended the day with a sixth-place finish in girls and fourth-place finish in the boys meet.
The state qualifiers will now head to Austin for the prelims on Feb. 22 and the finals on Feb. 23.
“It’s going to be a fight,” Rose said. “We’ve got a fight on our hands for sure.”
For Frisco, it won’t hurt that the team qualified all six relay teams for the state meet, which count for double the amount of points in the team standings.
“That’s huge,” Eubanks said.
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