Edmond North wins COAC boys swim title, but Huskies must 'step up' to repeat as 6A champs

EDMOND — No athlete enjoys losing in competition.

But Riley Conway downright hates it. Good thing for the Edmond North junior sprinter, it does not happen often.

“Pretty happy with it, (but) I know I can do better,” Conway said after winning two individual events and taking part in a pair of winning relay races as the Huskies ran away with the team title at the Central Oklahoma Athletic Conference boys’ swimming championships Saturday at Edmond Schools Aquatic Center. “But seeing those two victories, I just want to do it good at state, to be honest. I just don’t like losing.”

Conway is the defending state champion in the 50-yard freestyle and was runner-up to teammate Jack Starrett in the 100 by nearly a second and a half. On Saturday, Conway edged Starrett by 36 hundredths of a second to win the 50 in 21.74 seconds, then won the 100 in 50.38 as Starrett competed in — and won — the 100 butterfly.

Conway expects to compete in both the 50 and the 100 at the Class 6A state-qualifying meet Feb. 3 in Edmond, where he will continue his pursuit of not only another step up the podium in the 100, but an opportunity at the school record (currently 20.76) in the 50.

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“Definitely (working on) that second 50 (yards) in the 100,” Conway said. “And then on that 50, just tempo and start underwater, everything. Trying to break that school record. So it’s definitely a goal.”

Conway swam the opening leg in both of his relay victories. His 200 freestyle relay team of JD Evans, Dylan Eden and Garrett Levendofsky defeated Mustang by nearly two full seconds in 1:32.51, while his 400 freestyle relay quartet of Jonah Beth, Eden and Starrett again bested the Broncos, this time by nearly three seconds (3:23.60).

“It’s a combination of things,” Conway said. “It’s not just me. We’ve got three, strong guys other than me. Just combining all that, it just makes a great unit.”

Levendofsky, Collin Ho, Starrett and Beth opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay. Beth also posted an individual triumph in the 500 freestyle (5:14.87) as the Huskies won seven of 11 events overall and scored a whopping 472 points.

“The great thing about the boys, is I switched up some of the boys’ relays today from what we usually do,” first-year Edmond North coach Suzanne Smith said. “And they still killed all three of them. So that just showed us that I’ve got lots of moving parts. I can change things up if need be, depending on what our competition is bringing.”

Mustang — a distant second in the team standings with 335 points — earned two individual wins when Mason Scott (1:50.68) edged Beth in the 200 freestyle, while Gavin Davis (1:02.52) bested Ho in the 100 breaststroke.

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Norman standout sophomore JD Thumann — the defending state champion in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle — flashed his tremendous versatility with a pair of individual titles in the 200 individual medley (in 1:55.85, more than five seconds better than Levendofsky) and a nearly four-second win in the 100 backstroke (51.16).

“It’s pretty cool, it gives me a lot more opportunity and flexibility,” Thumann said. “So if I am trying to focus on something, I can shoot for it. If it doesn’t work out, I have other things I can move on to. It’s not just one thing ... It’s pretty nice.”

State-qualifying meets are Feb. 2-3 in Edmond and Jenks. As the defending 6A state champion, Edmond North understands that there is a bit of a target on its back, especially given its one-point win that ended Jenks’ four-year stranglehold on 6A crowns.

“We’ve really had to adjust being that we have less guys this year,” Conway said. “We’ve got to really step up. Some of the lower guys need to step up so we can fill the places that graduated last year.”

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Boys’ swimming

COAC CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

At Edmond Schools Aquatic Center

Teams – 1. Edmond North 472; 2. Mustang 335; 3. Deer Creek 227; 4. Norman North 223; t5. Edmond Memorial 202; t5. Yukon 202; 7. Edmond Santa Fe 183; 8. Stillwater 160; 9. Norman 88; 10. Westmoore 39; 11. Moore 23; 12. Piedmont 9.

Individual events

200 medley – 1. Edmond North (Garrett Levendofsky, Collin Ho, Jack Starrett, Jonah Beth), 1:43.62; 2. Yukon (Tristan Merkl, Tucker Merkl, Wyatt Rounsaville, Connor Combs), 1:45.92; 3. Deer Creek (Jason Hull, Cameron Sein, Bronson Walz, Sam Scorpecci), 1:47.09.

200 freestyle – 1. Mason Scott (Mustang), 1:50.68; 2. Jonah Beth (Edmond North), 1:51.16; 3. Parker Campbell (Mustang), 1:56.96.

200 individual medley – 1. JD Thumann (Norman), 1:55.85; 2. Garrett Levendofsky (Edmond North), 2:01.29; 3. Dylan Eden (Edmond North), 2:02.51.

50 freestyle – 1. Riley Conway (Edmond North), 21.74; 2. Jack Starrett (Edmond North), 22.10; 3. Cameron Sein (Deer Creek), 22.50.

100 butterfly – 1. Jack Starrett (Edmond North), 53.60; 2. Dylan Eden (Edmond North), 55.71; 3. Mason Scott (Mustang), 56.24.

100 freestyle – 1. Riley Conway (Edmond North), 50.38; 2. Sam Waddell (Stillwater), 51.12; 3. Owen McCall (Deer Creek), 51.52.

500 freestyle – 1. Jonah Beth (Edmond North), 5:14.87; 2. Tristan Merkl (Yukon), 5:27.07; 3. Ethan Hoang (Westmoore), 5:31.94.

200 freestyle relay – 1. Edmond North (Riley Conway, JD Evans, Dylan Eden, Garrett Levendofsky), 1:32.51; 2. Mustang (Dominic Tonn, Ace Seck, Parker Campbell, Mason Scott), 1:34.37; 3. Deer Creek (Owen McCall, Beckham Shields, Jason Hull, Cameron Sein), 1:35.63.

100 backstroke – 1. JD Thumann (Norman), 51.16; 2. Elias Mendez (Stillwater), 54.62; 3. Garrett Levendofsky (Edmond North), 55.29.

100 breaststroke – 1. Gavin Davis (Mustang), 1:02.52; 2. Collin Ho (Edmond North), 1:03.86; 3. Tucker Merkl (Yukon), 1:04.68.

400 freestyle relay – 1. Edmond North (Riley Conway, Jonah Beth, Dylan Eden, Jack Starrett), 3:23.60; 2. Mustang (Mason Scott, Ace Seck, Parker Campbell, Gavin Davis), 3:26.55; 3. Yukon (Tristan Merkl, Connor Combs, Wyatt Roundsaville, Tucker Merkl), 3:33.39.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school swimming: Edmond North wins COAC boys team title