Thane Maudslien won two individual events and swam on two scoring relay teams to lead the Kennedy Catholic boys swimming and diving team to a ninth place team finish at the state Class 3A meet held at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way Feb. 18-19.

The Lancers scored 101 points behind a two-way tie for seventh at 109 points. Highline finished 18th as a team with 32 points.

Maudslien, who is only a sophomore, won both the 100-yard butterfly race and the 100 backstroke. His efforts also helped the opening 200 medley relay take second in the final for 14 points and helped the meet-ending 400 free relay to a ninth-place finish for 18 more.

Maudslien took the 100 back in an All-American Automatic time of 50.30 seconds in the Saturday, Feb. 19 finals after posting a 52.11 time the day before. His winning time of 50.30 in the 100 fly was good enough for All-American Consideration.

The wins reeled in 20 points apiece for the Lancers.

Maudslien teamed up with Karl Fenster, Curtis Kasahara and Sean Piper to take 10th in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:43.71.

Maudslien joined Piper, Nick Pfeifer and Fenster in winning the consolation final of the 400 free relay for ninth place overall. The Kennedy foursome posted a 3:21.19 time that would have been low enough for seventh place had they made the final out of the preliminaries.

As for the rest of the meet after the 200 medley relay, Highline's Jon Graybill Jr. took 13th in the 200 free race with a time of 1:48.02 to start off.

Diving was the next event to stand out for Highline area athletes, with Highline High School senior Troy Neklason scoring 434.60 points for second place. Sophomore Brian Donahue of Kennedy came in fifth in the same event with 336.00 points.

Maudslien followed with his win in the 100 fly, then Graybill captured seventh place in the 100 free for Highline with his time of 48.48.

Kennedy came in 13th in the ensuing 200 free relay, where Pfiefer, Jake Mutter, Cole Grove and Alex Ballanger combined for a time of 1:34.41.

Maudslien's 100 back win was next, and two other Lancers placed as well.

Piper placed 13th with a time of 56.63 and Fenster finished right behind him in 14th with his 57.09 effort.
The meet ended with JFK's ninth place finish in the 400 free relay.

MOUNT RAINIER

The Rams have been a power in 3A state meets for some time and jumped toward the top in the 4A meet right away. They capped off their first 4A season by capturing 10th place as a team earlier on Saturday, Feb. 19 with 104 points.

Mount Rainier opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:40.52 behind the efforts of Jason Lemley, William Ikeda, Dillon Webster and Zach Williams.

Ryan Gansneder of the Rams took first in the consolation finals of the 200 free for ninth place overall. Gansneder finished with a time of 1:48.71 that would have placed him eighth in the finals.

Webster took seventh in the 200 individual medley in 2:00.73 and Lemley was eighth in the 100 free in 49.53.

Webster captured fifth place in the 500 free in 4:47.81 and Gansneder returned to the warm KCAC waters and placed eighth in the same event in 4:54.19.

Lemley was 12th in the 100 back final with a 56.49 clocking before Ikeda secured seventh in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.42.

The meet ended in disappointment for the Rams as Webster, Williams, Gansneder and Lemley were ruled disqualified after the 400 free relay. They had taken second in the consolation final in a time of 3:23.37.