Friendswood girls place third at state swim meet
February 22, 2022
FRIENDSWOOD — The Friendswood girls swim team concluded their outstanding swim season by placing third at the Class 5A state swim meet held at the Lee and Joe Ja mail Swim Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin.
The Lady Mustangs, who recently captured the Region 20-5A title to set the stage for the state swim meet, scored 138 points to finish behind Class 5A state champion Lubbock (163) and Prosper Rock Hill (114.5).
"I'm extremely proud of the effort by the boys and girls teams," said Friendswood head coach Craig Sikkema. "The girls, in particular, gave a great showing to finish third in the state. Over the last four years, the girls have finished third, fourth, fourth, and now third again at the state meet."
The girl’s 200-free relay foursome won first place and are the new state champions in this event. Swimmers in this event were: Andi Jeanes, Peyton Becker, Abigail Nelson, and KK LeBlanc.
There were two medalists in individual events: Sophomore Tony Laurito placed first in the boy’s 200-yard Individual Medley with a time of 1:49.62 and is the new state champion and freshman KK LeBlanc who placed second in the girl’s 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.20.
"I was very proud of Tony and for his gold medal win in the 200-yard IM," Sikkema said. "He has a great work ethic and is a tremendous talent that has a great future ahead of him."
The 14 swimmers and Divers who attended (by last name in alphabetical order) are: Peyton Becker, Hannah Brantley, Leah Givens, Nick Hardt, Andi Jeanes, Tony Laurito, KK LeBlanc, Paige McCray, Abigail Nelson, Marshall Odom, Paul Podrebarac, Sydney Svahn, Lauren Tillman, Talon Welch.
Notable performances in other events are as follows:
Girl’s 200-Medley Relay: Leah Givens, Peyton Becker, Andi Jeanes, Abigail Nelson (6th).
Boy’s 200-Medley Relay: Tony Laurito, Nick Hardt, Marshall Odom, Talon Welch (11th).
Girl’s 400-Free Relay: Andi Jeanes, Abigail Nelson, Leah Givens, KK LeBlanc (4th).
Girl’s 200 Individual Medley: Leah Givens (11th).
Boy’s 100 Butterfly: Marshall Odom (13th).
Girl’s 100 Free: KK LeBlanc (4th).
Girl’s 100 Backstroke: Leah Givens (14th).
Boy’s 100 Backstroke: Tony Laurito (4th).
Girl’s 100 Breaststroke: Peyton Becker (16th).
"Our third place finish by the girls showed how hard they have worked," Sikkema said. "Lubbock, who won the state title, had a very deep team so the effort our girls gave to compete at a high level at the state meet shows you their tenacity and work ethic."