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Sports
CHAMPION’S STORY
Kevin Glenn
reporter
Senior swimmer gives first person account of boys State Championship Three-peat “When I heard the Spotlight Staff was brainstorming a first-person account of state swim, I was hesitant. I swim for BV West to help the team and my school. Swimming for personal recognition is not what I’m about. Anyone who knows me, knows I try not to draw attention to myself. I hope this narrative gives credit to my teammates, they deserve it.” -Kevin
T
he week of the state meet our practices were a bit shorter and easier. Swim workouts progressively get harder throughout the season and then get easier toward the end, so we aren’t tired or sore for big meets like State. Swimmers always look forward to this time we call taper. We feel strong and rested. I could tell by how much all of the guys were laughing the night before at senior Sam Pankratz’s house that they felt good. The morning of the meet, we had to go to our classes. Needless to say, it was hard to concentrate. I knew I needed to have some food, so I’d have enough energy for my races but it’s hard to eat on race days. We met at the school vans around 1 p.m. With so many guys qualifying, we needed three vans to get everyone to the pool. The Team Mom, Marty Sinclair, met us at the vans with snacks, drinks and balloons. (She’s the best!) For the first time since _____ state swim was not in Topeka, Kan. We only had to travel about 20 minutes to the new Shawnee Mission natatorium in Lenexa. A few of the guys are on my club team, the Kansas City Blazers; we’ve been practicing there when we can, so we were familiar. I still got a little nervous walking in. Even with the new “COVID-19” format, no finals and no spectators, it was still State. Each team was assigned a place
in the stands. We sat right in front of Shawnee Mission South, behind our coaches. We had a great view. We put on our warm-up suits, most wore Speedos, and jumped in. Most of us swam about 1100 yards. Everybody swam some freestyle, besides that, guys practiced the strokes they’d qualified in, as well as starts and turns. Once we got out, it was time to suit up. Swimmers have lots of suits, but most have a racing suit that they feel helps them swim faster. I wore my new Mizuno. It was pretty tight, looks a lot like boxer briefs, and took almost 15 minutes to get on. The first event was the 200-medley relay. Each school can have one group of four guys with each doing a different stroke. We were in the final heat of three; it was considered the fastest and we were seeded first. (We were supposed to win.) While we thought we could win, we also knew we had a shot at the state record. Sophomore Grayson Moyer went first doing the backstroke. He had to be nervous-only three seniors wanting the record were behind him. Moyer was great and did what he had to do to keep us in the race. Senior Ethan Evans was next doing the breaststroke and took the lead in the first 25 yards of his 50-yard swim. I was next doing the butterfly. My fly felt great in practice all week and even better that night. When I touched the wall, our lead was expanded. Pankratz was our last swimmer. It was clear that we’d probably win. The record? It was going to be close. Pankratz popped off a great swim. 1:34.02 ! 1st Place. State Champs. State Record. School Record. All-American Consideration. What an amazing feeling! Our team went nuts. (BV West was winning this meet.)
Next up was the 200 freestyle. Moyer and Pankratz were up again. Moyer got 13th; a good swim considering he just did the relay. Senior Hunter Rey swam a respectable 1:45.31 to get 7th but Pankratz was still full of adrenaline from the relay and dropped more than three seconds to get 4th with a 1:44.53. Nice! The 200 Individual Medley was next. Instead of four swimmers each doing one stroke, one swimmer had to do all four. Three of us were in the race. I was seeded first but my time was not fast, I really wanted to have a good swim. Sophomore Jack Schreiber swam in the first heat and swam a best time by more than a second. Senior Sam Foster swam in the second heat and got 11th overall. I knew the two Shawnee Mission East guys next to me from Blazers, I really wanted to beat those guys but also the two guys from Olathe East. If any team was going to beat us for the team title, it would have been OE. “Swimmers take your mark.” Beep. I was out in the fly almost as fast as on the relay. My goal was to get a good lead. The backstroke was next. I wanted to put a lot of water between me and the rest of the field. When I flipped onto my stomach for the breast, I could see the other swimmers still doing backstroke. That pumped me up to really press it. Once I hit the wall for the freestyle, I just let my legs take over. Coaches always say, “kick to win” and that is what I was doing. When I was done, I’d dropped more than four seconds to go a 1:52.48. That was a good one! I lowered the school record in the event. I knew Coach Sample was proud. The coach of the winning swimmer gets to give out all of the medals. What a great feeling to get that handshake.
