The Ladue Boys Swimming & Diving Team finished 13th place with 65.5 points at the 2018 MSHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 10 at the St. Peters Rec Plex.
The following swimmers from Ladue Schools qualified as one of the Top 32 swimmers in the State but did not score as a Finalist (Top 16): sophomore Graham Fredman (22nd in 500 Free; 30th in 200 Free), sophomore Sam Garza (21st in 200 Free). Of note was the unselfish team contributions of Sam Garza (23rd Seed in 500 Free) and senior Luyi Gao (18th seed in 50 Free) who both relinquished their personal opportunities in one of their individual events as Top 32 qualifiers, and may be contenders to earn a Top 16 Finalist position for themselves, to strengthen the 200 Medley Relay Team, which included seniors Franklin Liu and Nathanial Marsters. Ultimately the Relay Team finished 18th, just 0.51 seconds away from a Top 16 scoring position.
The following swimmers from Ladue Schools scored points as Championship (Top 8) and Consolation (9-16) Finalists in at least one individual event: sophomore William Pan (11 points for 8th in the 200 Free; 6 points for 11th in the 100 Free); senior Brandon Yan (4 points for 13th in the 100 Fly; 3 points for 14th in the 200 IM); Franklin Liu (5 points for 12th in the 500 Free; 1 point for 16th in the 200 IM); Luyi Gao (4.5 points for 12th in the 100 Free); and junior and Captain Noah Unger (3 points for 14th in the 500 Free; 24th in 200 Free).
The 200 Free Relay Team of William Pan, Sam Garza, Luyi Gao and Brandon Yan earned 28 points for their 5th place finish while the same relay team was seeded 6th going into the 400 Free Relay Finals but was disqualified for an early takeoff; their final time would have retained their 6th place position and earned 26 points.
Other St. Louis teams that finished higher than Ladue Schools were: Parkway West (3rd with 185 points), MICDS (5th with 134 points), Chaminade (8th with 106 points), Parkway Central (9th with 97 points*), Clayton (10th with 92 points*) and Webster Groves (11th with 72 points) with the *asterisk indicating a dual meet win against these team during the regular season.
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