Eric Stelmar Finishes Strong At State Swim Meet
Eric Stelmar wrapped up his high school swimming career in grand fashion this weekend at the University Interscholastic League State Swimming and Diving Meet at the University of Texas in Austin.
The Mansfield Legacy senior captured the Class 5A championship in the boys 100-yard backstroke, clocking a time of 48.51 seconds in the finals Saturday. He finished over a second and a half ahead of the runner-up time of 49.89 seconds.
Stelmar entered the meet as the No. 2 seed with a qualifying time of 49.28 seconds. He took over the top seed heading into the finals after posting a time of 49.22 in the preliminaries Friday.
But Stelmar’s day wasn’t finished, though it was the only medal he would win. He also finished fourth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 45.55 seconds, improving on his qualifying time of 46.08 to seed him fourth prior to state.
Stelmar then swam the second leg of the Legacy 400 freestyle relay, which also featured fellow seniors Vincent Sok, Isaac Perez and Johnathan White. The quartet swam a time of 3:14.32 in the finals to jump from the 15th seed to a seventh-place finish. Their finals time was an improvement of 10.15 seconds over their state-qualifying time.
And, if that wasn’t enough, he swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay that finished sixth with a time of 1:37.37, an improvement from their qualifying time of 1:37.92, which placed them as the No. 9 seed. That quartet also included Sok, Perez and senior Saul Reaza.
As a team, the Legacy boys finished seventh with 98 points. Humble Kingwood won Class 5A with 215 points. Also from the area, Midlothian Heritage finished 38th among boys teams with 13 points, while the Heritage girls were 50th with five points, and Legacy was 57th with two points. Lubbock won the girls 5A state title with 186 points.
Class 6A Results
In Class 6A, the Mansfield girls placed ninth with 102.5 points, while Mansfield Lake Ridge was 19th with 39. Southlake Carroll won Class 6A girls with 284 points. The Lake Ridge boys were 19th with 40 points, and Mansfield was 25th with 29. Humble Kingwood boys won with 189.5.
Also finishing in the top 10 in his event in Class 5A was freshman Will Wawrzynski of Legacy, who was sixth in boys 1-meter diving with a score of 369.80, up from his ninth-place state qualifying score of 365.55.
In Class 6A, the lone medal winner was Lake Ridge senior Kyle Sanchez in boys 1-meter diving with a third-place (bronze medal) score of 513.70. He entered the meet as the No. 6 seed with a score of 473.50.
Mansfield senior Maddie Mechling had a pair of top-five finishes, taking fifth individually in the girls 200 individual medley in 2:03.50, and fifth as part of the girls 200 medley relay with freshmen Grace Walker, Katie Walker and junior Callie Limpert, posting a time of 1:45.79.
Katie Walker also placed sixth in the girls 100 butterfly with a clocking of 55.97 seconds. She improved from No. 8 seeding and a time of 56.64.
Mechling and Katie Walker were also on the girls 200 freestyle relay that finished seventh in 1:36.20, joined by Grace Walker and Limpert. The quartet improved from their No. 9 seed and time of 1:37.07.
Junior Jase Pinckney of Mansfield took sixth in the boys 100 butterfly with a 49.09. Sophomore Shawn Mohseni of Lake Ridge was sixth in the boys 100 backstroke in 50.62.
The Lake Ridge girls 400 freestyle relay of sophomores Keilee Holcomb, Ava Topolewski and Ryan Bosuro, along with junior Emma Westerholm, finished seventh with a time of 3:31.27. It was an improvement from the No. 9 seeding and time of 3:31.28.
