SULPHUR — Last year Westlake’s Talen Garrard made history. This year it was Bell City’s Grant Granger and Lake Arthur’s Slade Legros with historic wins Thursday at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association state swim meet at the Sulphur Parks and Recreation Aquatic Center.

Like Garrard, both won their first individual state championship, a first for their programs.

“I remember reading the newspaper last year after state and I was like, ‘Man, Talen just won; that was crazy,’” Granger said. “I never thought I would get here.

“I got a pretty good coach (Victoria Casteel) this year and I really think it all comes down to my No. 1 supporter, Ms. Alicia Zaunbrecher. She has been to every swim meet, and she is my best friend’s — Noah Granger (of Bell City, no relation) — grandma.”

Granger, swimming in his final high school meet, claimed his gold medal in the 50-yard freestyle. He was neck-and-neck with Dunham School’s Christian Cowen and Hayden Cowen and beat them to the wall by 0.24 seconds, in 22.61 seconds. Christian Cowen was second at 22.85 and Hayden Cowen took third at 23.13.

“I saw that guy in Lane 3 right next to me when I hit the wall and it was like, ‘Uh-oh, I got to get moving,’” Granger said. “I feel really tired now, but it feels really good. I have been really surprised with myself.”

Granger summoned enough strength to take silver in the 100 butterfly 15 minutes later with a time of 56.15 seconds, improving on his third-place finish in 2023.

“I was warned by several people that doing the 50 and the fly was probably not a great idea because they are so close together,” Granger said. “But I really like the 50 and I really like the fly, so I said I would give it a shot.”

Legros missed out on a podium finish last season but didn’t let that stop him this time. The junior won his first state title in the 100 freestyle, beating Pope John Paul II’s Zayne Sterbenz by nearly a full second at 50.44.

“It feels good to earn it,” Legros said. “I felt like once I got past the first 50 that I had what it took to get it done.”

Later in the meet, Legros almost won another gold medal after finishing second by 0.60 seconds (56.7) to Choudrant’s Jack Groce in the 100 backstroke.

Noah Granger, a junior, was the runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.63.

 

Division IV

Boys

Team scoring

1, Pope John Paul II, 323; 2, Dunham, 241; 3, Metairie Park Country Day, 196; 4, Holy Savior Menard, 188; 5, Ascension Episcopal School, 163; 6, Episcopal School of Acadiana, 150; 7, St. Martin’s, 132; 8, Lycee Francais, 130; 9, Ascension Christian, 120; 10, Riverside Academy, 99; 11, Bell City, 65; 12, Lake Arthur, 37; 12, Cedar Creek, 37; 14, Choudrant, 36; 15, Glenbrook, 28; 15, Haynesville, 28; 17, Westminster Christian, 26; 18, Central Catholic, 21; 19, Catholic-New Iberia, 12; 20, Houma Christian, 3; 21, Hathaway, 2.

Individual

200 free — 1, Eric Ring, PJP, 1:42.08; 2, Cole Hutson, PJP, 1:57.61; 3, Finn Fontenot, DUN, 1:59.06.

200 IM — 1, Wyatt Combs, PJP, 1:56.37; 2, Camdyn Napper, CC, 1:58.03; 3, Jack Groce, CHO, 1:58.05.

50 free — 1, Grant Granger, BC, 22.61; 2, Christian Cowen, DUN, 22.85; 3, Hayden Cowen, DUN, 23.13.

100 fly — 1, Wyatt Combs, PJP, 51.39; 2, Grant Granger, BC, 56.15; 3, Eddie Harcher, LF, 59.46.

100 free — 1, Slade Legros, LA, 50.44; 2, Zayne Sterbenz, PJP, 51.29; 3, Aidan Irwin, SM, 52.28.

500 free — 1, Eric Ring, PJP, 4:35.24; 2, Ethan Barnard, AC, 5:33.21; 3, Braxton Leonard, AES, 5:57.42.

100 back — Jack Groce, CHO, 56.00; 2, Slade Legros, LA, 56.70; 3, Eddie Harcher, LF, 57.94.

100 breast — 1, Camdyn Napper, CC, 1:00.89; 2, Noah Granger, BC, 1:05.63; 3, Finn Fontenot, DUN, 1:07.20.

Relays

200 medley — 1, Pope John Paul II, 142.61; 2, Dunham, 1:57.07; 3, Episcopal of Acadiana, 2:00.42.

200 free — 1, Dunham, 1:39.53; 2, Pope John Paul II, 1:42.41; 3, Metairie Park Country Day, 1:44.04.

400 free — 1, Pope John Paul II, 3:18.04*; 2, Dunham, 3:46.45; 3, Ascension Episcopal, 3:55.78.

Girls

Team scoring

1, Pope John Paul II, 308; 2, Episcopal School of Acadiana, 293; 3, Ascension Episcopal, 208; 4, Riverside Academy, 189; 5, Metairie Park Country Day, 108; 6, Dunham, 67; 7, McGehee, 61; 8, Holy Savior Menard, 60; 9, Cedar Creek, 58; 10, Glenbrook, 56; 11, St. Martin’s, 55; 12, Ascension Catholic, 32; 13, Lycee Francais, 30; 13, Haynesville, 30; 15, Ascension Christian, 27; 16, Opelousas Catholic, 26; 16, Sacred Heart, 26; 18, Vinton, 24; 19, First Baptist Christian, 14, 20, Houma Christian, 13; 21, Centerville, 12; 22, Bell City, 11; 23, St. Thomas Aquinas, 7; 24, Central Catholic, 2.

Individual

200 free — 1, Braylee Ladner, PJP, 1:59.71; 2, McKenzie Jones, CC, 2:01.32; 3, Ciara Farmer, ESA, 2:05.36.

200 IM — 1, Bella Bourque, ESA, 2:14.76; 2, Jiya Lodha, ESA, 2:22.69; 3, Avery Hayden, PJP, 2:23.47.

50 free — 1, Mady Hill, PJP, 24.34, 2, Brooke Gill, AES, 24.41; 3, Evie Landry, AC, 25.52.

100 fly — 1, Mady Hill, PJP, 56.96; 2, Juliette Magner, SM, 57.87; 3, Anna Hicks, AES, 1:09.55.

100 free — 1, Braylee Ladner, PJP, 53.38; 2, Bella Bourque, ESA, 55.16; 3, Evie Landry, AC, 56.31.

500 free — 1, Taylor Frick, PJP, 5:24.57; 2, McKenzie Jones, CC, 5:31.53; 3, Ciara Farmer, ESA, 5:40.25.

100 back — 1, Juliette Magner, SM, 58.59; 2, Taylor Frick, PJP, 58.69; 3, Lila Pugh, HSM, 1:03.62.

100 breast — 1, Brooke Gill, AES, 1:06.69; 2, Jiya Lodha, ESA, 1:15.56; 3, Alison Clark, ESA, 1:21.46.

Relays

200 medley — 1, Pope John Paul II, 1:53.01*; 2, Episcopal of Acadiana, 2:05.18; 3, Ascension Episcopal, 2:06.70.

200 free — 1, Riverside Academy, 1:54.22; 2, Pope John Paul II, 1:58.55; 3, Episcopal of Acadiana, 2:00.09.

400 free — 1, Pope John Paul II, 3:43.62*; 2, Episcopal of Acadiana, 3:53.75; 3, Ascension Episcopal, 4:12.23.

*Division IV record