AUSTIN – Twice the state meet turnout yielded a three-fold increase in returns for the Seven Lakes girls swimming and diving team.

A year after finishing eighth at state, the Spartans jumped six places and finished second Saturday at the UIL 4A state meet at the Texas Swimming Center.

“To go from eighth-place with four girls to second-place with eight girls … I’m blown away,” Seven Lakes coach Jordan Beck said. “We knew we could compete for the top spot. We had countdowns in practice every day leading up to district finals, regional finals and state. They’ve had their minds set. They knew what they wanted and went and got it.”

Sophomore Kyra Jones won the 100 backstroke (57.6), was second in the 500 free and swam with the winning 200 medley relay team (49.13) and fourth-place 400 free relay (3:40.13) to lead the Spartans, who placed in the top eight in 13 events.

Seven Lakes scored 204 points, 32 shy of Dallas Highland Park, which won its eighth consecutive 4A championship.

For complete results, click here.

“I felt really good the whole way. I just wanted to win and get good times,” said Jones, an Alberta native who will participate in the Canadian Olympic Trials in April. “I knew I was first (during the race) but I didn’t know by how much, but I figured out at the end.”

The medley relay team also consisted of freshmen Anne Steele and Bri Dillon, and junior Kara Wilkerson.

Steele swam with the 400 free relay, was third in the 100 butterfly (57.32) and seventh in the 200 IM (2:12.79).

“To have a lot of younger girls doing so well is really exciting,” said Steele, who felt she could have done better. “Yesterday and today I either glided too long into the wall or I took an extra step when I should have glided.”

Wilkerson was eighth in the 200 free (1:59.46).

Ezrah Nyanat was third in the 200 free (1:44.42) and fifth in the 500 free (4:45.25). His 500 free was 10 seconds better than his performance in Friday’s preliminaries.

The boys scored 96 points and placed ninth. Frisco won with 223 points.

Other top Spartans included Jeff Andersen, who was seventh in one-meter diving (287.45 points); and Ben Thompson, who was eighth in the 100 breast (1:03.1). The boys 400 free relay team finished seventh (3:20.18).

This was Seven Lakes’ last hurrah in 4A. It has been realigned into 5A effective next school year with the rest of the Katy ISD.

“We’re just doing our best here and trying to figure out the huge difference between 4A and 5A,” Steele said. “Coach is taking us to the 5A finals (later Saturday) and one guy swam a 19 in the 50 free. It’ll be fun to watch.”

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