Fort Bend finishes strong at state swim meet

By Landan Kuhlmann LKUHLMANN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM

As the state’s best swimmers and divers converged on the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, several Fort Bend area athletes and teams showed their skills as being the best the state has to offer.

When the dust settled, Fort Bend County’s swimmers accounted for eight individual podium finishes – including two state champions – in Austin. There were also two relay teams to finish on the podium including a state title. Below is a full rundown of how each of the area’s local swimmers fared in Austin.

Class 6A Austin

The Bulldogs’ boys’ 200 medley relay team of Ivan Pidgirsky, Lloyd Gomez, Eri Qui, and Kyle Kulow was sixth in the consolation final with a time of 1:35.67. Their 200 free relay team of Pidgirsky, Qui, Kulow, and Gomez was also sixth in the consolation final after swimming it in 1:26.91.

Individually, Kulow was fourth in the 200 free consolation final, finishing in 1:40.41. Clements

Hayden Bellotti was the Class 6A state champion in the boy’s 100 fly over the weekend, setting a new state record by swimming the final in 46.67 seconds. Belotti also finished third in the boys’ 50 free with a time of 19.99 in the final.

Elsewhere for the Rangers, Logan Brown took home the state crown in the boys’ 100 breaststroke and set a new Class 6A state record with a time of 52.86 in the championship final. And though he failed to defend his title in the 200 IM, the Texas A&M commit did finish second by swimming a 1:45.12 in the final.

Kayla Fu was the state runner-up in the girls’ 100 free, finishing in 49.62 seconds, and was also third in the 50 free with a time of 22.79 in the championship final.

The Rangers’ boys’ 200 medley relay team of Austin Pan, Brown, Bellotti, and Andrew Chen finished fourth in Austin with a time of 1:32.11 in the final. Meanwhile, their boys’ 200 free relay team of Brown, Pan, Chen, and Bellotti finished fifth by swimming the final in 1:23.69.

In the end, Clements’ boys’ team finished fifth in the state by accruing 131 total points, missing out on a podium spot by just 2.5 points. Ridge Point

Ethan Hunter finished 11th in the 1-meter diving by totaling 420.05 points. Class 5A Fulshear

The Chargers’ girls’ 200 free relay team of Avery Dillon, Emma Nowotny, Ellie Pais- ley, and Kailey Kennedy was the shining star of the Class 5A meet for Fulshear, taking home the Class 5A state crown by swimming the final Dillon also had two individual podium finishes in Austin, finishing third in the girls 200 free with a time of 1:51.64 in the final and placing second in the 500 free final with a time of 4:58.83. Kennedy also had an individual podium finish, finishing third in the girls’ 50 free final after swimming it in 23.22 seconds.

Kaito Quiroz finished third in the boys’ 200 free consolation final with a 1:44.21 in the final, and sixth the 500 free consolation final with a time of 4:44.63. Paisley won the girls’ 500 free consolation final by swimming it in 5:10.49.

The Chargers’ boys’ 200 medley relay team of Gabe Pedracio, Ridge Waldroup, Brady Litchfield, and Cannon Steen were second in the consolation final in Austin, swimming it in 1:39.04. Their boys’ 200 free relay of Litchfield, Tyler Porter, Quiroz, and Steen won the consolation final with a 1:27.53 in the final.

Foster

The top team finisher at the meet for the Falcons was their boys’ 200 free relay team of Benjamin Schwank, Tanner McKay, Kyle Den Herder, and Caedmon Doherty, which earned a third-place finish in Austin after swimming a 1:26.09 in the final.

Individually, Adelaide Wil- liford finished eighth in the girls’ 50 free final with a time of 24.52 seconds, and seventh in the 100 free consolation final with a time of 54.31 seconds.

Karleigh Niles finished sixth in the girls’ 1-meter diving by accruing 371.8 total points, and Elijah Baker was ninth in the boys’ 1-meter diving with 312.9 total points. Den Herder was sixth in the boys’ 100 fly consolation final with a time of 52.58 seconds, and Schwank was fourth in the boys’ 100 free consolation final by finishing in 47.75 seconds.