It’s only December but two of the best swimming and diving programs in the state met up for a dual-meet on Thursday with somewhat predictable results. Pioneer, the defending Division 1 state champion, faced city rival Skyline in an SEC dual-meet and the Eagles were coming off a top-10 finish last year in the D-2 State Finals.
But Pioneer is at another level and proved it with a convincing 119.5-65.5 win over a very good Skyline team. The most impressive stat from the meet comes from the stat sheet where a pool full of swimmers put up excellent times – especially for a December meet. Let’s dive in and break it all down.
The Pioneers opened the meet with a win in the medley relay. The Pioneer team of Christopher Leuciuc, Edward Zhang, Henry Baumhover and Jensen Wood touched first in 1:37.82. Skyline’s team of Chris Kurniawan, Andi Xi, Luke Jordan and Zander Barr took second in 1:45.04.
Zhang jumped right back into the pool and won the 200 free in 1:42.21. Teammate Cam Kline was third in 1:48.47. Skyline’s Owen McKelvey was second in 1:48.05.
Skyline’s Lucas Caswell won the 200 IM in 1:53.98. Pioneer took the next two spots with Baumhover second (1:54.02) and Charles Knoepp third (2:04.78).
Pioneer’s Jensen Wood took first (22.67) in the 50 free. Skyline went two-three with Sawyer Thompson (23.04) and Kurniawan (23.54).
Skyline’s Stuart Knight won diving with 242.17 points. Pioneer’s Asher Morgan was second (184.88). Pioneer’s Ryan Anderson and Skyline’s Phil Trampler tied for third (152.7).
Caswell won the butterfly in 50.92. Pioneer’s Baumhover was second (51.46) and teammate Isaac Almeida was third (56.13).
Leuciuc took first in the 100 free with a time of 48.29 with teammate Henry Colvig third (51.31). Thompson was second for Skyline in 50.89.
Wood won his second individual race when he touched first in the 500 free in 4:56.75. Pioneer’s Kline was second (4:56.75) and Knoepp was third (4:59.22). Xi was fourth for Skyline in 5:04.28.
The Pioneer team of Baumhover, Zhang, Brighton Han and Wood won the 200 free relay in 1:29.19. Skyline’s team of Kurniawan, McKelvey, Thompson and Caswell was second in 1:30.59.
McKelvey won the backstroke in 53.39. Pioneer’s Leuciuc was second (55.66) and teammate Almeida was third (57.19).
Pioneer swept the top three spots in the breaststroke with Thomas McTigue first (1:04.42), Almeida second (1:07.76) and Luke Silva third (1:08.79).
Pioneer swept the relays with the team of Zhang, Han, Kline and Leuciuc winning the 400 free relay in 3:17.2. Skyline’s team of Caswell, Thompson, Xi and McKelvey took second in 3:19.75.
