Even by the program’s lofty standards, 2017 was an exceptional year for the Shawnee Mission East boys swim team.
With a balanced attack that featured 19 performances that earned Lancer swimmers top-three event finishes, SM East cruised to a third straight state 6A boys swim and dive championship. The Lancers finished with 394.5 team points at the state meet at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka, easily outpacing second-place finisher Blue Valley North, which had 282.
Though the Lancers had only one swimmer take first place in an individual event with Ian Longan winning the 100-yard backstroke, their championship run over the weekend did feature the foursome of Longan, Aidan Holbrook, Hayden Linscott and Evan Root putting in a 400 freestyle relay performance that set a new state record at 3:08.04.
The title is the 15th in school history, a current Kansas record, and the 11th since head coach Wiley Wright took the helm from Jerry Sprague in 1985. It was also the most points an SM East team has amassed in the state meet.