Lions win third straight conference crown

A dominant performance in the pool Tuesday resulted in Lansing boy’s swimming claiming its third United Kansas Conference championship in as many years at the conference meet at Lansing High School Natatorium.

The Lions amassed 408 points – more than doubling second-place Shawnee Heights with 178 – while Leavenworth grabbed third place with 170 points. Basehor-Linwood totaled 66 points with a smaller team of three swimmers. 

Here are the results from the meet by event:

200-yard medley relay

Lansing’s team of Mike Bresser, Vianney Verzola, Greyson Walker and Levi Francis won the event with a time of 1:47.68.

200-yard freestyle

Basehor-Linwood’s Brady Tinder took first place with a dominant time of 2:02.19. Lansing’s Jakob Blackwell was over 11 seconds behind in second place at 2:13.76. Geoffrey Stentiford took third for the Lions in 2:13.81 while his teammate Devin Alexander was in fifth at 2:21.17.

200-yard IM

Lansing captured three of the top five positions as Levi Francis took second (2:18), John Walck finished third (2:21.43) and Ethan Crumpacker in fourth (2:22.68). Leavenworth’s Jesse Purvis rounded out the top five with a 2:23.51 time.

50-yard freestyle

Walker took first place with over two seconds between himself and second place, finishing in 21.96. Verzola finished fourth in 24.57 and Basehor’s Tucker Dixon took fifth in 24.73.

100-yard butterfly

Walker nearly claimed another first-place finish but took second place in 55.05 – just .06 behind. His time was still good for the school record. Walck and Crumpacker took fourth and fifth with times of 1:02.96 and 1:06.68.

100-yard freestyle

Francis picked up another first-place finish for the Lions with a 54.80 time. Dixon took second for the Bobcats in 56.32 while Leavenworth’s Jonah Ross got fourth in 59.82.

Blackwell rounded out the top five, finishing in 1:00.30.

200-yard free relay

Lansing’s team of Verzola, Blackwell, Francis and Walker won the event in 1:37.55 – three seconds faster than second place. Leavenworth claimed third place with the team of Purvis, Brendan Hanley, Gavin Davis and Angel Morgan finishing in 1:41.87.

100-yard backstroke

Lansing swimmers took four of the top five positions with Bresser beating the field by over nine seconds in 1:03.19 to take first place. Joey Barber (1:12.44) and Larry Krebs (1:15.84) took second and third place. Leavenworth’s Isaac Ativie got a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:20.45 and Lansing’s Edward Stone got fifth in 1:21.21.

100-yard breaststroke

Ross grabbed a first-place finish for the Pioneers in 1:09.99 with Lansing’s Verzola right behind him in second at 1:10.33.

400-yard free relay

Leavenworth’s team of Purvis, Davis, Morgan and Hanley grabbed first place by nearly six seconds, finishing in 3:49.66. Lansing’s team of Blackwell, Crumpacker, Krebs and Driton Shijaku.