STATE HIGH SCHOOL SWIM MEETS: Bulldogs bring home another set of state titles ... Sobek wins 500 freestyle; Vikings teams take third in 6A

5A

NAMPA — Sandpoint swimming head coach Greg Jackson gathered his 200-yard freestyle relay boys' team with a message ahead of their pivotal swim on Saturday at the Boise City Aquatic Center. 

Jackson said he felt confident that if the Sandpoint boys won that event, they'd take home their third straight state title. His message to the four swimmers, freshman Joshua Jackson, sophomore Bo Zeller, junior Maximus Brown and junior Lou Foust, was a simple one. 

"Josh, Lou, Max, I need you guys all at 23 [seconds] and Bo, you probably need to be at 22 [seconds]," Greg Jackson said. "Sure enough, that's what they all did." 

The Bulldogs' 200-yard relay team bested the Idaho Falls team by 0.11 seconds to claim the event and eventually the 5A State Championship. The boys won their third straight state title by just six points over Idaho Falls while the girls team cruised to their fourth straight state title, besting the field by 32 points. 

"This is a new team... they really had to do without these seasoned veterans carrying the weight. We lost all those people that were bringing in our heavy points, and we needed to replace that, and the kids stepped up," Jackson said. "This team raised the bar from where it was, and they met it."

Part of the relay team that won the crucial meet, Zeller was named the swimmer of the meet by Jackson. Individually, Zeller nabbed a third-place finish (1:53.27) in the 200-yard freestyle, a two-second improvement from his preliminary time, and a third (51.02) in the 100-yard freestyle. 

Zeller also helped the Bulldogs notch a second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 

"He really did contribute to the team's success," Jackson said. "He came in for support, he went above and beyond what was expected of him."  

The Bulldog girls relay team, made up of senior Halle Wyman, senior Summer Loutzenhiser, sophomore Athena de Leeuw and freshman London Leavitt, claimed gold in the 200-yard medley relay (2:02.44). The girls also grabbed second in the 200-yard (1:46.96) and 400-yard freestyle relays (3:57.44). 

Sophomore Alivia Storms grabbed gold in the 100-yard backstroke (1:12.71), with Loutzenhiser finishing third (1:12.94), and a silver medal in the 200-yard IM (2:25.00). De Leeuw added a sixth-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (5:59.86) to round out another stellar performance from the girls' team.  

Freshman star Myelle Jensen stepped up to claim gold in the 100-yard freestyle (54.29) and backstroke events (59.91). Jensen's performance in the 100-yard backstroke was a team record, Jackson said.  

Andrew Ford also set two team records on Saturday with his gold medal 1:00.85 in the 100-yard breaststroke and a 2:03.60 in the 200-yard IM, which netted him a second-place finish. In that 200-yard IM, Brown finished fourth (2:07.18) in addition to his third-place finish (56.79) in the 100-yard butterfly. 

Freshman Joshua Jackson took home two silver medals, one in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.66) and another in the 100-yard backstroke (55.72). The Bulldog boys stacked points in the 100-yard backstroke with Foust finishing third (57.35) and junior Bodi Demmons finishing fourth (57.53). 

"There was a lot of pre-meet prep that we did, just addressing what the kids needed to do," Greg Jackson said. "Having a conversation with those boys and saying, 'Hey, you guys are fast, you're swimming faster than everybody else, you need more front speed.' That's what they did." 

With another state championship going back in the trophy cases of Sandpoint High, Jackson attributed the team's success to the program's culture of caring for each other in and out of the pool.  

"I love this team regardless of individual or state titles. They're an amazing team, an amazing group of kids, and we were going to enjoy ourselves on the way home regardless," Jackson said.  

Lakeland freshman Jayda Comer was second in the girls 100 butterfly and third in the 200 freestyle and freshman Ezra Bretveld seventh in the 200 boys freestyle.

6A

Lake City senior Tillie Sobek has trained for this moment for three years. 

So as she was neck-and-neck with Bishop Kelly junior Anna Beelaert at the 250-yard mark of the 500 freestyle, Sobek just got going. 

Sobek moved past Beelaert to win the event in 5 minutes, 12.69 seconds, capturing the title after finishing second to the Bishop Kelly junior last year. 

"I was just thinking get out in front and stay out in front," said Sobek, who also won the event as a freshman in 2023. "I was feeling pretty good in warmups and had a good start. Off the blocks, I knew I had to get after it." 

Sobek was also second in the 200 freestyle to finish with three state titles. 

"This is the end of the chapter, but not the book of swimming for me," Sobek said. "It was nice to be able to finish it off with a win. I couldn't be prouder of the time I got. It was just a good way to sign off individually." 

"Tillie's a big cross trainer and loves to swim long distance," said Lake City coach Shelly Sobek, who is Tillie's mom. "Her and Anna are good friends and they push each other. It's always an exciting race when they compete against each other because they're both in it to win it. It's such a cool competition." 

Coeur d'Alene senior Allie Maykuth won the 100 butterfly in 59.37 seconds, senior Dawson Cushman 100 breaststroke in 59.25 and was second in the 200 IM in 1:55.63. 

The boys 400 freestyle relay team of seniors Owen Keith, Jace Voeller, Andrew Davis and Cushman repeated as champions in 3:13.24. 

Both Viking squads finished third in the team race. Timberline of Boise won the boys team title and Bishop Kelly of Boise won the girls team title. 

Davis was second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 500 freestyle, senior Karsten Towery third in the 200 IM and the girls 200 freestyle relay team of Towery, Addison Wallace, junior Raegan Greiner and Makuyth was third.

Full results for the 6A meet were not made available by the Idaho High School Activities Association.

6A

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Timberline 236.5. 2, Mountain View 165. 3, Coeur d’Alene 151. 4, Boise 139. 5, Bishop Kelly 105. 6, Highland 96.5. 7, Eagle 94. 8, Ridgevue 66. 9, Owyhee 59. 10, Rigby 53. 11, Madison 23. 12, Thunder Ridge 21. 13, Centennial 12. 14, Post Falls 10. 15, Meridian 7. 16, Middleton 3. 17 (tie), Lake City, Rocky Mountain 3.

Winner, locals in top 8

200-yard medley relay — 1, Timberline, 1:36.11. 

200 freestyle — 1, Ace Garcia, Mountain View, 1:40.72. 2, Andrew Davis, Coeur d’Alene, 1:50.08. 

200 IM — 1, Deacon Major, Timberline, 1:55.53. 2, Dawson Cushman, Coeur d’Alene, 1:55.63. 

50 freestyle — 1, Hank Cheng, Timberline, 21.23. 6, Owen Keith, Coeur d’Alene, 22.38.

100 butterfly — 1, Jacek Brown, Mountain View, 52.37. 

100 freestyle — 1, Hank Cheng, Timberline, 46.86. 4, Owen Keith, Coeur d’Alene, 48.58. 7, Jace Voeller, Coeur d’Alene, 49.68. 

500 freestyle — 1, Ace Garcia, Mountain View, 4:39.76. 3, Andrew Davis, Coeur d’Alene, 4:56.35. 

200 freestyle relay — 1, Coeur d’Alene (Owen Keith, Jace Voeller, Andrew Davis, Dawson Cushman), 1:28.78. 

100 backstroke — 1, Benjamin Gannon, Timberline, 52.78. 7, John Misner, Post Falls, 56.94. 

100 breaststroke — 1, Dawson Cushman, Coeur d’Alene, 59.25. 

400 freestyle relay — 1, Coeur d’Alene (Owen Keith, Jace Voeller, Andrew Davis, Dawson Cushman), 3:13.24. 

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Bishop Kelly 194. 2, Eagle 167. 3, Coeur d’Alene 147. 4, Mountain View 140. 5 (tie), Boise, Lake City 110. 7, Timberline 102. 8, Ridgevue 85. 9, Thunder Ridge 68. 10, Post Falls 51. 11, Madison 28. 12 (tie), Centennial, Meridian 17. 14, Owyhee 13. 15, Capital 7. 16, Canyon Ridge 4. 17 (tie), Rocky Mountain, Borah 3.

Winner, locals in top 8

200-yard medley relay — 1, Eagle, 1:50.72. 4, Coeur d’Alene (Reagan Greiner, Mia Stroh, Karsten Towery, Allie Maykuth), 1:55.69. 

200 freestyle — 1, Brayleigh Hoisington, Bishop Kelly, 1:51.47. 2, Tillie Sobek, Lake City, 1:55.82. 4, Daisy Whitney, Post Falls, 1:58.29. 

200 IM — 1, Anna Beelaert, Bishop Kelly, 2:10.77. 3, Karsten Towery, Coeur d’Alene, 2:18.34. 

50 freestyle — 1, Myah Singkhaophet, Ridgevue, 23.61. 4, Allie Maykuth, Coeur d’Alene, 24.90. 7, Ellie Ruth, Post Falls, 25.29.

100 butterfly — 1, Allie Maykuth, Coeur d’Alene, 59.37. 2, Daisy Whitney, Post Falls, 59.88. 6, Raegan Greiner, Coeur d’Alene, 1:01.03. 

100 freestyle — 1, Olivia Hussman, Mountain View, 53.11. 6, Karsten Towery, Coeur d’Alene, 55.93. 

500 freestyle — 1, Tillie Sobek, Lake City, 5:12.69. 6, Raegan Greiner, Coeur d’Alene, 5:33.07. 

200 freestyle relay — 1, Eagle, 1:41.27. 3, Coeur d’Alene (Karsten Towery, Addison Wallace, Raegan Greiner, Allie Maykuth), 1:43.82. 5, Lake City (Maddy Wisdom-Matous, Liv Morton, Emilie Kariotis, Tillie Sobek), 1:44.74. 

100 backstroke — 1, Brayleigh Hoisington, Bishop Kelly, 56.21. 5, Emmersyn Haley, Lake City, 1:02.54. 

100 breaststroke — 1, Myah Singkhaophet, Ridgevue, 1:05:39. 5, Addison Wallace, Coeur d’Alene, 1:12.57. 6, Mia Stroh, Coeur d’Alene, 1:13.01. 

400 freestyle relay — 1, Bishop Kelly, 3:39.32. 4, Lake City (Maggie Sobek, Emmersyn Haley, Liv Morton, Tillie Sobek), 3:47.52. 8, Coeur d’Alene (Bailey Copstead, Lauren Orear, Mia Stroh, Addison Wallace), 4:03.74.

5A

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 233. 2, Idaho Falls 227. 3, Skyline 139. 4, Burley 82. 5, Pocatello 81. 6, Mountain Home 70. 7, Twin Falls 67. 8, Kimberly 62. 9 (tie), Century, Columbia 37. 11, Moscow 34. 12, Hillcrest 32. 13, Lewiston 27. 14, Bonneville 26. 15, Declo 23. 16, Wood River 16. 17 (tie), Minico, Lakeland 13. 19, Nampa 9. 20, Shelley 2.

Winner, locals in top 8

200-yard medley relay — 1, Idaho Falls, 1:42.14. 2, Sandpoint (Bodi Demmons, Andrew Ford, Maximus Brown, Joshua Jackson), 1:43.32. 

200 freestyle — 1, Zander Enslinger, Pocatello, 1:43.58, new classification record. 2, Joshua Jackson, Sandpoint, 1:52.66. 3, Bo Zeller, Sandpoint, 1:53.27. 7, Ezra Bretveld, Lakeland, 1:59.28.

200 IM — 1, Noah Hunt, Century, 2:02.52. 2, Andrew Ford, Sandpoint, 2:03.60. 4, Maximus Brown, Sandpoint, 2:07.18. 

50 freestyle — 1, Rangi Grimes, Idaho Falls, 21.11#, new classification record. 

100 butterfly — 1, Zeke Burgi, Columbia, 51.77. 3, Maximus Brown, Sandpoint, 56.79. 

100 freestyle — 1, Kyler Brown, Kimberly, 48.35. 3, Bo Zeller, Sandpoint, 51.02. 

500 freestyle — 1, Zander Eslinger, Pocatello, 4:47.82. 3, Lou Foust, Sandpoint, 5:10.64. 5, Bodi Demmons, Sandpoint, 5:17.92. 

200 freestyle relay — 1, Sandpoint (Joshua Jackson, Bo Zeller, Maximus Brown, Lou Foust), 1:33.45. 

100 backstroke — 1, Rangi Grimes, Idaho Falls, 52.01. 2, Joshua Jackson, Sandpoint, 55.72. 3, Lou Foust, Sandpoint, 57.35. 4, Bodi Demmons, Sandpoint, 57.53. 

100 breaststroke — 1, Andrew Ford, Sandpoint, 1:00.85. 

400 freestyle relay — 1, Idaho Falls, 3:25.64. 2, Sandpoint (Lou Foust, Bo Zeller, Bodi Demmons, Andrew Ford), 3:29.03. 

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 179. 2, Lewiston 147. 3, Skyline 124. 4, Cole Valley Christian 11. 5, Idaho Falls 110. 6, Century 108. 7, Jerome 71. 8 Minico 69. 9, Moscow 57. 10, Burley 51. 11, Hillcrest 35. 12, Parma 28. 13, Lakeland 25. 14, Vallivue 24. 15, Bonneville 21. 16, Wood River 19. 17, Skyview 18. 18, Nampa Christian 15. 19, Shelley 14. 20, Pocatello 12. 21 (tie), Kimberly, Twin Falls 10. 23, Declo 4. 24, Columbia 3.

Winner, locals in top 8

200-yard medley relay — 1, Sandpoint (Halle Wyman, Summer Loutzenhiser, Athena de Leeuw, London Leavitt), 2:02.44. 

200 freestyle — 1, Josie Fernald, Cole Valley Christian, 1:58.64. 2, Jayda Comer, Lakeland, 2:03.13. 

200 IM — 1, Abigail Balsmeier, Idaho Falls, 2:14.95. 2, Alivia Storms, Sandpoint, 2:25. 

50 freestyle — 1, Rylan Holcomb, Parma, 24.83. 

100 butterfly — 1, Abigail Balsmeier, Idaho Falls, 59.22. 2, Jayda Comer, Lakeland, 1:01.84. 

100 freestyle — 1, Myelle Jensen, Sandpoint, 54.29. 

500 freestyle — 1, Ryann Schraufnagel, Lewiston, 5:33.71. 6, Atheena de Leeuw, Sandpoint, 5:59.86. 

200 freestyle relay — 1, Lewiston, 1:46.80. 2, Sandpoint (Claire Ballard, London Leavitt, Alivia Storms, Myelle Jensen), 1:46.96. 

100 backstroke — 1, Myelle Jensen, Sandpoint, 59.91. 

100 breaststroke — 1, Alivia Storms, Sandpoint, 1:12.71. 3, Summer Loutzenhiser, Sandpoint, 1:12.94. 

400 freestyle relay — 1, Lewiston, 3:55.65. 2, Sandpoint (Claire Ballard, Athena de Leeuw, Alivia Storms, Myelle Jensen), 3:57.44. 

    Courtesy photo Lake City High senior Tillie Sobek won the state 6A title in the 500-yard freestyle race at the West Valley YMCA in Boise on Saturday.
  

    Courtesy photo The Coeur d'Alene High girls swim team finished third in the state 6A championships at the West Valley YMCA in Boise on Saturday. In the front row from left are Carli Lawler, Mia Stroh, Addison Wallace and Allie Maykuth. In the back are Miia Scarborough, Karsten Towery, Reagan Greiner, Lauren Orear, Olivia Pitch and Bailey Copstead.
  

    Courtesy photo The Coeur d'Alene High boys swim team finished third in the state 6A championships at the West Valley YMCA in Boise on Saturday. From left are Andrew Davis, Tanner Flynn, Conner Snyder, Brody Saint, Griffin Snyder, Owen Keith, Dawson Cushman, Jace Voeller and Josh Dimitri.