The Bishop Lynch AquaFriars closed out their season Saturday at the TAPPS Division I State Swimming Championships in San Antonio.
The Bishop Lynch men had their best finish since 2010, finishing ninth overall with 26 points.
The Friars were led by junior Will Eckles, who swam personal best times of 1:50.79 in finishing seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, and 5:04.49 in finishing sixth in the 500-yard freestyle.
Eckles got support from:
• Junior
Sean O'Hare, who swam a personal best time of 1:57.56 in finishing 11
th in the 200 freestyle; and
• Junior AJ Armenta, who finished 15th in the 100 yard backstroke.
The boys also finished in the Top 10 in all three relays for the first time in five years. The team of Armenta, junior captain
Eric Bray, junior Will Seidel and O'Hare completed the 200-yard medley relay in 1:59.36 to finish 10
th.
O'Hare, Seidel, Bray and Eckles grouped to finish eighth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:42.07, and the team of O'Hare, Bray, Armenta and Eckles teamed to finish seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay in an excellent time of 3:41.54.
The BL Lady Friars scored 108 points to finish fourth in the meet, continuing a streak of five years finishing in the Top 4 at the meet.
The Lady Friars are one of only three teams who have finished in the Top 4 for the last five years.
The Lady Friars were led by freshman Ailish Tierney, who was silver medalist in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing second in a personal best time of 54.47 seconds.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Ailish finished fourth but set a new school record, finishing in 1:58.60 to break an 11-year-old Bishop Lynch standard.
Others who contributed to the cause were:
• Junior
Niamh Tierney, who finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and sixth in the 100-yard freestyle, both in personal best times;
• Senior captain Jessica Jordan, who finished fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a personal best time of 1:11.24, and eighth in the 200-yard Individual Medley;
• Junior Bonnie Nolan, who finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke and ninth in the 500-yard freestyle;
• Senior Jordan Carl, who finished seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke in a personal best time of 1:13.16, and ninth in the 200-yard freestyle; and
• Junior Jesseca Hageman, who finished ninth in the 100-yard backstroke and 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke, both in personal best times.
• Senior Shauna Seidel, who finished 11th in the 500-yard freestyle.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Nolan, Jordan, Niamh Tierney and Ailish Tierney won the bronze medal in that event, swimming a season-best time of 1:55.39, missing the school record set last year by 0.27 seconds.
The Tierney's and Jordan were joined by Seidel to finish fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:45.09, while Nolan, Hageman, Carl and Seidel combined to finish seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay in 4:00.46.
Congratulations on great performances by both the men and women in San Antonio.