Southlake Carroll swim teams sweep UIL state tirles, again

By John English

Special to the Star-Telegram

After winning a district title, Southlake Carroll coach Kevin Murphy said he believed that if his teams performed to the best of their abilities, they should win UIL Class 5A boys and girls state swimming and diving championship this season.

On Saturday, those words proved to be prophetic, as the Dragon swim teams swept the state meet for the second straight year.

It was the third straight state championship for the boys team.

“In every meet, there are some great things, some medium things, and some not so great things,” Murphy said. “On the first day of the competition, we had a difficult day. We said our prayers, and had a much better day on the second day, and I just can’t say enough about these kids.”

Carroll junior Jonathan Roberts took gold in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, and set a state record with a time of 1:36.34 in the 200.

Murphy said he expected nothing less from Roberts.

“Johnny does a great job,” Murphy said. “We’re not going to take any credit for how fast he swims, other than the fact that he does everything he is asked to do every time out, whether it is practice or at the meets. If we put our hands on his shoulders and say we need something special, well then he stands up and tries to give us something special.”

Roberts finished second in the 200 free last season and fourth in the the 200 individual medley, and said winning two state championships was what he was hoping for heading into the meet, but knew it would be a challenge.

“Going into it, I was really excited,” Roberts said. “I knew we had a really good chance to win another state championship. I wanted to make something special happen in the state tournament. Breaking the state record was awesome.”

Bryce Klein also won a state championship for Carroll in the one-meter dive. Carroll’s boys 400 free relay of Roberts, John Remetta, Jake Tovey and Grayson Magruder brought home the gold.

The boys 200 medley relay of Roberts, Remetta, Tovey and Jacob Elieson finished second at the state meet with a time of 1:33.72. The girls 200 medley relay of Emily Gibson, MacKenzie Leonard, Sydney Wheeler and Casey Rose finished third with a time of 1:47.20.

Emily Zapinski finished third in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.34, and Remetta was third in the 200 IM with a time of 1:49.91.

Lauren Crown finished second in the one-meter dive for Carroll on the girls side, and Gibson took second place in the 100 butterfly event with a time of 55.73.

Connor Dobbs finished third in the 500 free for the boys with a time of 4:30.16, and the 200 free girls relay team of Lindsay Schultz, Zapinski, Ashlin Anderson and Gibson finished second with a time of 1:35.89.

The girls 400 free relay team of Schultz, Zapinski, Alexa Baran and Rebecca Upton also finished second with a time of 3:28.16.

The Carroll girls finished with a total of 474 points, 207.5 points ahead of second place San Antonio Reagan, and boys scored 514 points., 223.5 points ahead of second place Reagan.

Among other area swimmers, Fort Worth Paschal's Summer Campbell brought home a state championship in the 100 yard butterfly event with a time of 55.35.

Keller's Laura Norman also had a brilliant performance at state, winning a state title in the 200 IM event with a time of 2:04.46 and 100 backstroke with a time of 55.79.

Aaron Greene of Keller Timber Creek won a state championship in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 49.27, and finished second at the state meet in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.82, and Keller Central's Madi Straight finished second in the 200 IM at the state meet with a time of 2:04.57.

Central finished eighth as a team on the girls' side with a total of 124.5 points, and eighth as a team on the boys side with 134.5 points.

In 4A action, Mansfield Legacy's Sarah Musselman finished third in the one meter diving event, and Kira Schlosberg of Aledo finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.88.

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