Submitted
The three Cs of success are sometimes referred to as clarity, commitment and consistency.
The Hays High School swim program got a huge dose of all three when it hired Tyler Stein as its coach in 2024. And the Indians continue to reap the benefits.
Now in his second year in charge of the Indian boys’ and girls’ teams, Stein coached the HHS boys to the Western Athletic Conference title last week at Great Bend.
Records show that it is the first WAC boys’ swim title in Hays High program history.
Fielding a team of 15 swimmers at WAC (the Indians’ largest roster in several years) Hays High medaled in nine of the 11 events
The Indians racking up 523 points to outdistance second-place Garden City by more than 100 points and claim their fifth team title of the season.
Senior Karsen Flaska had a golden day at the conference meet, bookending two championship relay performances around two individual gold-medal efforts, earning him WAC swimmer-of-the-year honors.
Stein was named the conference coach of the year for a third straight season after being bestowed with that recognition for both HHS boys’ and girls’ programs a year ago.
Senior Chase Zadina and junior Durr joined Flaska on the two winning relay teams at WAC.
Zadina also won the 50y freestyle and in the process, qualified for state in that event. He also finished second in another individual event, while Durr also was the silver medalist in two individual events.
Senior Maison Desaire finished his final WAC meet in style, grabbing third-place medals in two individual events and helping the 200y freestyle relay collect the silver medals.
The Indians also got some impressive performances from first-time swimmers for the high school team.
Freshman Jace Herbers medaled in three events and also placed in the top five of a fourth event. And senior Seth Burkholder – out for the HHS team for the first time this year – earned medals in two relays in addition to earning top-five status in an individual event.
Herbers joined Flaska, Zadina and Durr in clocking a time of 1 minute, 49.72 seconds on their winning 200y medley relay, just .42 seconds off the school record.
They will try to get that record at this weekend’s Class 5-1A State Championships at Lenexa.
WAC Championships
Team scoring
Hays High 523, Garden City 422, Dodge City 419, Great Bend 316, Liberal 171.
Hays High results
- 200y medley relay – 1. (Karsen Flaska, Jace Herbers, Cedric Durr, Chase Zadina)
- 200y freestyle – 5. Bentley Demel; 6. Brooks Dixon; 8. Col Lonsdale
- 200y individual medley – 1. Karsen Flaska; 2. Cedric Durr; 5. Jace Herbers
- 50y freestyle – 1. Chase Zadina; 3. Maison Desaire; 5. Seth Burkholder
- 100y butterfly – 2. Chase Zadina; 4. Jude
Hileman; 9. Emmitt Dreiling
- 100y freestyle – 2. Cedric Durr; 3. Maison
Desaire
- 500y freestyle – 5. Col Lonsdale; 7. Levi Crisenbery; 9. Easton Moore
- 200y freestyle relay – 2. (Maison Desaire, Noah Shaeffer, Jace Herbers, Seth Burkholder); 6.
(Jackson Huwa, Bentley Demel, Dreiling, Brooks Dixon)
- 100y backstroke – 1. Karsen Flaska; 3. Jude Hileman; 7. Brooks Dixon
- 100y breaststroke – 2. Jace Herbers; 5. Noah Shaeffer; 7. Emmitt Dreiling
- 400y freestyle relay – 1. (Chase Zadina, Seth
Burkholder, Cedric Durr, Karsen Flaska);
4. (Jude Hileman, Brooks Dixon, Col Lonsdale, Noah Shaeffer)