Loftus defends titles, sets records

BOISE - After being beaten twice in the preliminaries Friday, Lake City High swimmer Joe Loftus wasn't going to let that stop him from winning a third consecutive state title in both the 100-yard butterfly and 100 backstroke at the state swimming championships Saturday at the Boise Valley Swim and Racquet Club.

Loftus, who was beaten by Rocky Mountain's Alex Trompke in both events on Friday, bounced back to win the butterfly in 49.33 seconds and the backstroke in 49.41 seconds - both state records.

"It was really exciting," Loftus said. "He'd beaten me a little bit, but I was able to turn on another gear."

"I know he's been waiting for this for three years," Lake City coach Jonathan Siegler said.

“It’s nice to see someone work so hard to complete those goals.”

Junior Bryce Kananowicz repeated in the 200 individual medley for Lake City, which finished fourth one year after winning the state title.

“I’m very excited and proud of my team and myself,” Kananowicz said. “It was nice to be able to win in the finals for a second straight year.”

Kananowicz was fighting an illness, but battled through to finish second in the 500 freestyle.

“He wasn’t feeling his greatest,” Siegler said. “But he always shows up for us and that shows a true quality of a good swimmer. He wasn’t feeling his greatest, but he did as well as he possibly could.”

Kananowicz won the 200 IM as a sophomore, and was second in the 500 free.

Ethan Cordes finished third in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle and Gus Koch was third in the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle for Coeur d’Alene, which finished third.

“We had a lot of depth and kids that did really well,” Coeur d’Alene coach Rich Swoboda said. “Ethan just gets faster each year and has a real good mentality. When he comes to a state meet, he comes to race.”

Swoboda was named state coach of the year following the event.

“It’s quite an honor,” Coeur d’Alene assistant coach Dave Barnes said. “Every year, coaches at the state meet vote on who has had the most positive impact on their team this year. He’s organized a lot and has committed himself to the program, and we’re lucky to have him.”

Centennial won the boys title, with Moscow second. Post Falls finished 19th.

Lake City’s girls finished sixth. Wood River won the team championship with 262 points, followed by Eagle with 245 and Boise in third with 243.

“Our girls did very well,” Siegler said. “But the south group has gotten really fast. Our girls did the best they could.”

Maggie de Tar was third in the 200 freestyle. Suzanne de Tar was third in the 500 freestyle and swam on two second-place finishers in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay for Post Falls, which finished seventh.

Senior Nicole Rozier was second in the 200 individual medley and third in the 100 butterfly for Coeur d’Alene, which finished ninth.

“She had her season best and school records in both,” Swoboda said. “Our girls are going to continue to get better, but we’ve got a good group of freshmen that will help us next year.”

Sandpoint finished 18th in the girls meet.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Centennial 262.5. 2, Moscow 196. 3, Coeur d’Alene 191. 4, Lake City 159. 5, Boise 141.5. 6, Mountain View 109. 7, Hillcrest 100. 8, Twin Falls 88. 9, Century 66. 10, Capital 63. 11, Eagle 61. 12, Rocky Mountain 52. 13, Wood River 44. 14, Bishop Kelly 39. 15, Burley 36. 16, Bonneville 30. 17, Lewiston 29. 18, Middleton 28. 19, Post Falls 23. 20, Nampa 21. 21 (tie), Meridian, Idaho Falls 16. 23 (tie), Timberline, Skyline 14. 25, Canyon Ridge 11.5. 26 (tie), Rigby, North Valley Academy 11. 28, Jerome 6.5. 29 (tie), Kuna, Kimberly 6. 31, Borah 4. 32, Soda Springs 2. 33, North Gem 1.

WINNERS, LOCALS IN TOP 8

200-yard medley relay — 1, Centennial, 1:37.06. 2, Lake City (Bryce Kananowicz, Joe Loftus, Paul Martin, Brandon Penny), 1:37.13. 7, Coeur d’Alene (Will Kennedy, Kyle Jones, Christian Whitfield, Beau Urbaniak), 1:51.12.

200 freestyle — 1, Bowen Anderson, Moscow, 1:42.03. 4, Gus Koch, Coeur d’Alene, 1:47.10. 5, Richard English, Post Falls, 1:51.88.

200 individual medley — 1, Bryce Kananowicz, Lake City, 1:53.40. 6, Kade Hern, Coeur d’Alene, 2:04.77. 7, Kyle Jones, Coeur d’Alene, 2:08.

50 freestyle — 1, Wyatt Jager, Moscow, 21.02. 3, Ethan Cordes, Coeur d’Alene, 21.54. 5, Brandon Penny, Lake City, 22.47.

100 butterfly — 1, Joe Loftus, Lake City, 49.33. 3, Ethan Cordes, Coeur d’Alene, 51.65.

100 freestyle — 1, Wyatt Jager, Moscow, 46.38.

500 freestyle — 1, Bowen Anderson, Moscow, 4:32.93. 2, Bryce Kananowicz, Lake City, 4:38.14. 6, Kyle Jones, Coeur d’Alene, 5:09.80.

200 freestyle relay — 1, Moscow, 1:28.38. 2, Coeur d’Alene (Dyson Savage, Kade Hern, Ethan Cordes, Gus Koch), 1:30.15.

100 backstroke — 1, Joe Loftus, Lake City, 49.41. 3, Gus Koch, Coeur d’Alene, 53.81.

100 breaststroke — 1, Kevin Fanter, Boise, 57.88. 5, Brandon Penny, Lake City, 1:03.82. 7, Kade Hern, Coeur d’Alene, 1:04.93.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Moscow, 3:14.40. 3, Lake City (Bryce Kananowicz, Brandon Penny, Paul Martin, Joe Loftus), 3:19.09.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Wood River 262. 2, Eagle 245. 3, Boise 243. 4, Century 172. 5, Centennial 153. 6, Lake City 131. 7, Post Falls 127. 8, Mountain View 108. 9, Coeur d’Alene 104. 10, Bishop Kelly 83. 11, Rocky Mountain 74. 12, Moscow 65. 13, Skyline 53. 14, Capital 49. 15, Hillcrest 48. 16, Genesee 40. 17, Canyon Ridge 35. 18, Sandpoint 31. 19, Meridian 23. 20, Highland 22. 21 (tie), Twin Falls, Lewiston, Idaho Falls 18. 24, Vallivue 16. 25, Marsh Valley 10. 26, Bonneville 7. 27, Borah 6. 28, Burley 5. 29, North Valley Academy 2.

WINNERS, LOCALS IN TOP 8

200 yard medley relay — 1, Boise, 1:5.79. 2, Post Falls (Suzanne de Tar, Megan Forster, Maggie de Tar, Margaret Holloway), 1:58.93. 5, Lake City (Hannah Gonzalez, Tiffany Portue, Jessica Penny, Amy Danner), 2:00.50. 6, Coeur d’Alene (Brooke Urbaniak, Nicole Rozier, Kayla Hern, Claudia East), 2:01.37.

200 freestyle — 1, Nicole Bruneel, Eagle, 1:55.03. 3, Maggie deTar, Post Falls, 1:58.87. 8, Kayla Hern, Coeur d’Alene, 2:06.16.

200 individual medley — 1, Lena Friesen, Wood River, 2:10.90. 2, Nicole Rozier, Coeur d’Alene, 2:13.10. 6, Tiffany Portue, Lake City, 2:20.73. 7, Hannah Gonzalez, Lake City, 2:26.77.

50 freestyle — 1, Hailey Johnson, Genesee, 24.42.

100 butterfly — 1, Phoebe Turner, Boise, 58.12. 3, Nicole Rozier, Coeur d’Alene, 1:00.56.

100 freestyle — 1, Hailey Johnson, Genesee, 53.44. 7, Tiffany Portue, Lake City, 56.53.

500 freestyle — 1, Emily Bruneel, Eagle, 5:091.2. 3, Suzanne deTar, Post Falls, 5:31.91. 7, Kayla Hern, Coeur d’Alene, 5:35.60.

200 freestyle relay — 1, Eagle, 1:41.55. 2, Post Falls (Maggie deTar, Margaret Holloway, Megan Forster, Suzanne deTar), 1:45.58.

100 backstroke — 1, Kerri Starr, Eagle, 1:00.42. 8, Hannah Gonzalez, Lake City, 1:07.45.

100 breaststroke — 1, Lena Friesen, Wood River, 1:05.84. 6, Maggie deTar, Post Falls, 1:12.48. 7, Jessica Penny, Lake City, 1:13.23.

400 freestyle relay — 1, Eagle, 3:38.78. 5, Lake City (Jessica Penny, Hannah Gonzalez, Amy Danner, Tiffany Portue), 3:53.10.