All night Saturday, Highlands swimming coach Kevin Kampschmidt repeated the same three-word mantra: Wait and see.
By the end of the KHSAA girls state meet at the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center, the Bluebirds waited, saw – and conquered. They won the Combined team title, in which boys and girls scores are added, over Louisville Eastern, 272.5-268.
Two-time defending champion Ryle finished third with 265.
“I was super-proud of all of them,” Kampschmidt said. “I mean, that last relay (the 400 freestyle, in which Highlands took third), they just let it all hang out.”
Highlands senior Ragan Moore heard the bare-chested Bluebird boys recreate the sound of a Friday night football game in Fort Thomas with their waving t-shirts and cheers you might have heard at Kroger Field.
“Oh, I could hear pretty much everybody,” Moore said. “They did exactly what they needed to – they got us hyped.”
Besides the cheering, two things helped Highlands: scoring over 130 points in both boys and girls (139.5 Friday and Saturday’s 133); and finishing in the top five in five of the six relays – the 200 medley, 200 freestyle and the 400 freestyle.
Highlands was fourth going into Saturday behind Eastern in second place and two-time defending champion Ryle.
“We knew we were going to try to kind of chip away at their leads ‘cause Ryle’s boys and Eastern’s boys were better than ours,” Kampschmidt said.
Highlands received its first boost in 1-meter diving when senior Addie Tinkler finished sixth. Kampschmidt called the 13 points a “huge” finish. Tinkler, meanwhile, couldn’t control her tears afterward.
“It was my best finish,” she said. “Honestly, I’m just glad to be here with my friends for my last year.”
Ryle coach Jeff Floyd said Tinkler’s Saturday performance was the best he’d ever seen – perhaps justifiable because she was 10th last year.
“I’ve known Jeff for, like, five years now,” Tinkler said. “And honestly, he’s just been a really compassionate coach to me and has coached me … even though it’s not his job.”
Highlands’ Margaret Meyers, Taryn Ripley, Keira Kobida and Vivian Winkler finished sixth in the 200 medley relay in 1 minute, 51.66 seconds. Ripley, Kobida, Ella Kate Reynolds and Moore placed third in both the 200 (1:39.24) and 400 freestyle relays (3:36.71).
Floyd said the Raider boys finishing ninth in Friday’s 400 freestyle relay mostly sealed his team’s fate Saturday.
“The girls did everything they could do,” Floyd said. “… The swimmers swam great; we made one mistake, and it cost us.”
Notre Dame takes second
For the 14th straight time, Sacred Heart overwhelmed the field. The Valkyries beat Notre Dame, 440.5-236.
Pandas coach Jamie Kelly said finishing second was pretty good.
“We lost a lot of good talent last year, and to be able to come back and do this again is something pretty special,” Kelly said.
“Overwhelmed” was an appropriate description of what sophomore Clare Herfel did in winning her second consecutive 500 freestyle – her 4:51.44 was the only sub-five minute swim and nine seconds ahead Madison Central’s Marlee Cooksey.
Herfel said she “maybe” could’ve cut some more time if she had been challenged.
“I mean, I was pushed so much this year, too,” she said. “Anybody I get to race, they push me so much, so I’m really grateful for that.
Bien leads local divers
In both Spanish and French, “bien” means “good,” and Notre Dame junior Savannah Bien lived up to her surname.
Bien finished fourth with 488.80 points, Cooper senior Chris Nowak was fifth with 487.50, and Highlands’ Tinkler was sixth with 480.35.
You could call Bien’s last seven of 12 dives a comeback because she had fallen to eighth after five.
“I really don’t look at the scores ‘cause it always stresses me out, but I just try to do my best based on what my coach is telling me,” Bien said. “If I am behind and not where I want to be sitting, I do focus more on every little detail.”
Bien’s back dives, the 1 ½ Somersault Pike and the Somersault with a 1 ½ twist, were two of her highest-scoring, a 47.15 and 46.00, respectively.
Nowak felt fifth place was a fitting finish to her high school career. “I was seeded fifth,” she said. “I got fifth, so I’m really happy about it.”
Louisville Ballard’s Fiona Sheehan won with 552.15 points. Lexington Catholic’s Sydney Leslie was second with 541.65, and Leila Macauley of Louisville Assumption was third with 490.00.
Kristina Jenny, a 2000 Dixie Heights alumna, coaches Nowak and Tinkler among others at Cooper, Highlands and Conner. Saturday, her colleagues named her the Kentucky Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Coaches Association Girls Diving Coach of the Year.
Jenny’s award completed a Northern Kentucky sweep; Dixie Heights’ Austin Hall won the boys award Friday. And like Hall, Jenny was surprised.
“I was definitely surprised at how well the girls did,” Jenny said. “They came in strong, and they stayed steady the whole time … We’ve had a historically strong region, and I’m glad to see us come back strong this year.”
For complete results, visit khsaa.org (bit.ly/4aKBg8g).