TOPEKA, Kan. – Buhler swimming and diving had seven of its nine entries reach the finals of this weekend’s Swimming & Diving State Championship. The Crusaders placed 16th out of the 34 teams competing in the 5-1A classification.
Hudson DeWeese secured an 11th place finish in the 100 Backstroke, swimming a finals time of 59.56. DeWeese also competed in the 200 Freestyle, where his time of 1:54.66 earned a 13th place finish.
Like DeWeese, Jonah Gardener swam two finals events. Gardener dropped nearly a full second off his personal best in the 100 Breaststroke, placing 9th with a time of 1:04.76. He also PR’d in the 100 Freestyle, touching the wall with a 13th place time of 51.21.
Isaak Neighbor’s turn in the pool came in the 200 Individual Medley, where he cut two seconds from his preliminary round. Neighbor’s personal best time of 2:14.69 was good for 15th place.
In the team relays, Buhler finished 15th overall in the 200 Medley, where Eli White, Marshall Birney, Scott Schweizer, and Ryler Hartnett combined for a time of 1:55.42. Neighbor and Birney joined Payton Frees and Logan Schmidt in the 400 Free, earning a 12th place time of 3:42.43.
“Buhler competed in the most events that we have ever been eligible for at the State Championships this year,” head coach Shane DeWeese said. “A true sign that our program is growing.”
With the boys’ season complete, the girls will get their turn in the pool starting with the season opening meet at Hutchinson on March 26th.
