Thirty-four hundredths of a second.
Such a small amount of time kept Ryle from finishing second in Friday’s KHSAA boys state swimming meet at the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center.
As expected, there was no drama atop the team standings. St. Xavier amassed 562 points and won its 35th straight team title and 60th in program history.
There was suspense farther down. Louisville Trinity edged Ryle, 179-177, for the runner-up spot.
Raspy-voiced Ryle coach Jeff Floyd didn’t sound upset.
“We scored more points than we did last year,” Floyd said. “We did really, really well … I can’t be upset with the kids.”
Trinity finished third in the 400-yard freestyle relay – the final event – behind St. Xavier and Boyle County. Ryle could have taken second place in the team standings by placing fourth, or the Raiders could have tied the Shamrocks with a fifth-place finish.
It didn’t happen. Highlands’ Griffin Barlow, Charlie Herfel, Noah Gracey and Chanith Abeysinghe finished fifth in 3:14.58 seconds. Ryle’s Chase Denigan, Nash Parsons, Garrett Dennis and Chase Knopf placed sixth in 3:14.92.
The margin between the Bluebirds and Raiders: 34-hundredths of a second.
“We got a school record, and we tried our best,” Dennis said. “It’s all that matters.”
Something else you notice about Ryle: they are not afraid to playfully tease each other. As Dennis tried to explain that he had no complaints, Knopf snickered.
“He messed up how he said it,” Knopf said. “He should’ve said, ‘I don’t have any room to complain.’”
Dennis replied: “That’s what I meant to say.”
Ryle vs. Trinity was also a reunion of old college roommates. Floyd and the Shamrocks coach Mike Essig swam at Ohio University.
“It was a fun meet,” Essig said. “… We knew it was going to be exciting; we hugged each other afterward. It meant a lot.”
The Raiders still had a good night – they placed third for the second straight season.
Ryle’s Andy Pleiman, Knopf, Denigan and Dennis had strong individual nights.
Pleiman took third in the 50 freestyle (21.01) and eighth in 100 freestyle (47.05). Denigan was sixth in 200 individual medley (1:55.05), Knopf was third in 200 (1:41.42), and Dennis was seventh in the 500 freestyle (4:43.50).
In the 200 freestyle relay, Pleiman, Nash Parsons, Lucas Dilger and Knopf placed fifth (1:27.88), and Denigan, Addison Coughenour, Dennis and Pleiman were seventh in the 200 medley relay (1:39.48).
Denigan, Addison Coughenour, Dennis and Pleiman were seventh in the 200 medley relay.
Highlands finished sixth with 57 points. The Bluebirds were fourth in the 200 medley relay (Luke Deegan, Barlow, Herfel and Abeysinghe) and eighth in the 200 freestyle relay (Herfel, Deegan, Gracey and Abeysinghe).
Barlow was eighth in the 100 breaststroke (57.76) and sixth in 100 butterfly (50.42).
Villa Madonna junior Ty Dropic’s sixth-place medal in the 200 individual medley (1:54.85) was the first time a Viking swimmer made the podium since Zach Bokelman did it in the 2000s.
“I think he’s improved in all four of his strokes, butterfly especially,” Villa Madonna coach Katie Kurzendoerfer said. “I think it’s his training with the Northern Kentucky Clippers.”
The girls preliminaries begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, with the finals at 6 p.m.
For complete boys results, visit khsaa.org (bit.ly/3IcX3Yu).
