It was a solid start to the season for the Emporia High boys swim and diving team in its home meet Thursday.
The Spartans finished in second with 390 points, 88 behind team champion Derby. Emporia High also finished three points ahead of Centennial League rival Washburn Rural.
Coach Jamie Dawson says it was a good start to the season with a young team.
Senior Braxton Higgins got things started by winning the diving portion of the event. He qualified for state with a score of 287.75.
Kager Ochs was third in diving and Alex Allemang finished fourth.
On the swim side, the Spartans’ top finish was the 200-freestyle relay team of Rudy Bedolla, Shane Anderson, Will Walker and Logan Woydziak. The quartet finished with a time of 1:42.28, good for second place.
Woydziak says it’s exciting to get a consideration time in the first meet, knowing it’s something to build on for the rest of the season.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Bedolla, Ian Navarro, Broden Podrebarac and Woydziak finished fourth with a time of 4:12.78. The 200-yard medley relay team of Walker, Podrebarac, Anderson and Navarro finished fifth (2:05.83). Bedolla took fifth in the 50-yard freestyle (25.73). Navarro swam a 6:59.49 to take fifth in the 500-yard freestyle.
The Spartans are next in action on Thursday when they travel to Haysville for the Campus Invitational.
