Sacred Heart swimmers overcome relay DQ to earn 12th straight KHSAA state championship
LEXINGTON — There was little doubt a Sacred Heart Academy swimming and diving team blessed with elite talent would win another state championship Saturday, but the journey included an unexpected bump in the road.
During Saturday morning’s preliminaries, Sacred Heart’s 400-yard freestyle relay squad was disqualified because of an early takeoff by one of the swimmers.
Valkyries coach Charlie Edmiston was confident his team wouldn’t need the points from the relay to capture the state title, but there was work to do before his team came back for Saturday night’s finals at the University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center.
“There are a lot of emotions in a big meet like this,” Edmiston said. “My goal was to reset and make sure we got everyone in the right mindset to race. … I’m really proud of what our girls did because you could see the change from this morning to tonight. Those girls stepped up and swam some great races.”
The Valkyries won seven of 12 events and set two meet records in capturing the KHSAA State Championships for the 12th straight year and 33rd overall.
Sacred Heart finished with 438 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Elizabethtown (169). Ryle (140.5) was third and was followed by Notre Dame (134.5), Assumption (120), Lexington Catholic (115) and Christian Academy (114).
The scoreboard showed the victory was easy, but the day was anything but for the Valkyries.
“That was very hard for the whole team, but that’s part of swimming,” sophomore Charlotte Crush said. “You have to learn how to come back from something really hard, and it builds character and life lessons. I feel like we were all overthinking things. …
“We had lost the fun for a little bit. We had to remember the sport is not supposed to be serious, it’s supposed to be a fun thing. It’s what you enjoy.”
Crush enjoyed a big day, taking home three victories and two state records.
She joined senior Georgia Kahler, junior Haley McDonald and sophomore Ava Grazziani in winning the first race of the night — the 200 medley relay — in meet-record time of 1 minute, 40.24 seconds.
Crush set a meet record in the 100 butterfly (51.33 seconds) in the morning prelims and went on to win the final in that race (51.41) and the 100 backstroke (51.59). Crush was pleased with the victories, not with her times.
“I just know where I should be,” she said.
McDonald, a University of Texas commit, also won two races for the Valkyries — the 200 individual medley in 1:59.37 and the 100 free in 50.12. She also was a member of the victorious 200 free relay squad.
Sacred Heart’s other win came from Grazziani in the 200 free.
Sacred Heart swimmers and coaches donned boxing-style robes and gloves, as the team’s theme was “It’s a Knockout.”
“Just a fun way for us to make sure we’re bringing our energy and we’re at our best,” Edmiston said.
Two other Louisville swimmers captured individual races as Ballard senior Kate Mardis won the 50 free in 23.08 and Christian Academy senior Sydney Perkins won the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.16.
Mardis has committed to Cincinnati and Perkins to UConn.
“She’s the most competitive swimmer I’ve ever had on the team,” CAL coach David Robinson said of Perkins. “It’s all about winning and preparation.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X @kyhighs.
KHSAA Girls Swimming and Diving State Championships
At University of Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center
Team results (top 10 and other Louisville-area schools): 1. Sacred Heart 438, 2. Elizabethtown 169, 3. Ryle 140.5, 4. Notre Dame 134.5, 5. Assumption 120, 6. Lexington Catholic 115, 7. Christian Academy 114, 8. West Jessamine 109.5, 9. Highlands 103.5, 10. Madison Central 98, 16. Ballard 49, 18. Oldham County 31, 20. Collegiate 29, 21. Eastern 28, 23. Atherton 24, 27. Kentucky Country Day 16, 28. South Oldham 14, 31. North Oldham 13, 32. Manual 12, 35. Brown 4
200-yard medley relay: 1. Sacred Heart (Charlotte Crush, Georgia Kahler, Ava Grazziani, Haley McDonald) 1:40.24; 2. Elizabethtown 1:46.29; 3. Christian Academy 1:49.35; 4. West Jessamine 1:49.92
200 freestyle: 1. Ava Grazziani (Sacred Heart) 1:48.68; 2. Sydney Braeger (Elizabethtown) 1:48.82; 3. Eli Summa (Sacred Heart) 1:49.89; 4. Sadie Hartig (Notre Dame) 1:51.41
200 individual medley: 1. Haley McDonald (Sacred Heart) 1:59.37; 2. Kate Braeger (Elizabethtown) 2:00.67; 3. Carlie Tyler (Sacred Heart) 2:03.35; 4. Sydney Green (Sacred Heart) 2:06.21
50 freestyle: 1. Kate Mardis (Ballard) 23.08; 2. Caroline Beiting (Lexington Catholic) 23.35; 3. Lillian Hosinski (Lexington Catholic) 23.49; 4. Ashley Kara (Collegiate) 23.67
1-meter diving: 1. Peytton Moore (Cooper) 537.70; 2. Reagan Patterson (Madison Southern) 537.25; 3. Sydney Leslie (Lexington Catholic) 470.70; 4. Brooke Ronan (Oldham County) 424.05
100 butterfly: 1. Charlotte Crush (Sacred Heart) 51.41; 2. Sydney Braeger (Elizabethtown) 53.97; 3. Amelia Lee (West Jessamine) 55.74; 4. Kinley Jones (Assumption) 56.33
100 freestyle: 1. Haley McDonald (Sacred Heart) 50.12; 2. Kate Mardis (Ballard) 50.64; 3. Sydney Perkins (Christian Academy) 51.51; 4. Caroline Beiting (Lexington Catholic) 51.53
500 freestyle: 1. Sadie Hartig (Notre Dame) 4:56.46; 2. Lillian Borkowski (Assumption) 5:01.32; 3. Eli Summa (Sacred Heart) 5:03.78; 4. Carlie Tyler (Sacred Heart) 5:03.85
200 freestyle relay: 1. Sacred Heart (Georgia Kahler, Haley McDonald, Sara Keefe, Ella Donlin) 1:34.43; 2. Lexington Catholic 1:38.32; 3. West Jessamine 1:39.08; 4. Madison Central 1:40.20
100 backstroke: 1. Charlotte Crush (Sacred Heart) 51.59; 2. Kate Braeger (Elizabethtown) 54.41; 3. Ava Grazziani (Sacred Heart) 54.72; 4. Amelia Lee (West Jessamine) 55.65
100 breaststroke: 1. Sydney Perkins (Christian Academy) 1:02.16; 2. Georgia Kahler (Sacred Heart) 1:02.38; 3. Hanna Schmidt (Sacred Heart) 1:02.85; 4. Sydney Green (Sacred Heart) 1:04.53
400 freestyle relay: 1. Elizabethtown (Micaela Godfrey, Stella Fox, Kate Braeger, Sydney Braeger) 3:31.06; 2. Highlands 3:34.17; 3. Notre Dame 3:36.57; 4. Ryle 3:38.72
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA swimming: Sacred Heart wins 12th straight state championship
