Lady Buff wins two individual, two relay events at WAC
The final team scores had just been announced for the 2022 Western Athletic Conference girls swimming championships.
It was Thursday, May 12, at the Barton Community College Natatorium and the Garden City Lady AquaBuffs had just heard their effort fell short in defending their title from 2021.
Great Bend, which had lost for the first time in nearly two decades to the Garden City team, had regained their title with a 383-369 total despite the Lady AquaBuffs winning eight of the 12 events.
In the immediate aftermath of that announcement, Garden City junior Avery Meng heard her name come across the public address system indicating that she had been named the 2022 WAC Girls Swimmer of the Year.
It was a bittersweet moment for Meng, whose mother, Jennifer, coaches the girls’ team, but it also is a moment that she will remember and appreciate in the years ahead.
“I think the thing that means the most to me is improving my times from sophomore to junior season,” said the younger Meng. “In every event (200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke) I’ve made considerable cuts in my times.”
Take the 200-yard individual medley, perhaps the toughest of all races since a swimmer starts with the butterfly, then transitions to the backstroke, the breaststroke and finishes with the freestyle.
“It’s pretty much torture,” said Meng, who saw her time of 2:32 last year to 2:26.28 cut by six seconds. “To make that much of a cut is pretty exciting. However, it is an exhausting race. When I get to the final 50 (freestyle), I just do my best to reach down and push through to the finish. When you get to that last 50 (freestyle), you just are so exhausted you empty out your tank.”
Despite the initial disappointment of the team standings, Meng said she knows the award means a lot.
“There are other girls in the league who are really good and did well that day,” Meng said, noting Hays’ Izabel Schmidt’s double in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles as one example. “Lana (teammate Rodriguez) won two events and also swam on the relays, so to have the coaches vote for me, it’s truly an honor.”
Meng had also captured the 100-yard breaststroke in her fastest time of the season, 1:11.90, which automatically qualified her for the state meet (May 20-21). The 200-yard medley winning time of 1:59.09 enabled the Garden City group to win by more than 12 seconds and then Meng swam a split of the winning 400-yard freestyle where they posted a time of 4:04.02 to win by six seconds.
The GCHS junior credits her 2021 summer competition and off-season conditioning for the improvement in her 2022 season.
“I swam a 1:14 the first meet of the season in the breaststroke and that was four seconds faster than a year ago,” Meng recalled. “It becomes a matter of mindset and gaining confidence.”
She was 11th at the state meet out of 25 swimmers, so her sights were set for a top eight finish where she could earn a medal for the first time.
Meng said she thought the butterfly (first 50) is her fastest stroke, the backstroke definitely the hardest, the breaststroke the smoothest, and the freestyle just automatically kicks in. That is how she sees the 200-yard individual medley.
With the state remaining when this interview was conducted, Meng said she hoped to break 1:10 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
“I will be satisfied if I can do that,” she said. “Hopefully, our medley or free relay will get on the podium and get what we want.”
That is the mindset of a winner, and that is what Avery Meng was as being chosen for the WAC 2022 Girls Swimmer of the Year.
Western Athletic Conference Girls Swimming
First Team All-Conference
| Event | Swimmers | School | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200y medley relay | Payton Tull Avery Meng Lana Rodriguez Paige Chappel | Garden City | 1:59:09 |
| 200y freestyle | Lana Rodriguez | Garden City | 2:15:13 |
| 200y individual medley | Avery Meng | Garden City | 2:26:28 |
| 50y freestyle | Izabel Schmidt | Hays | 25.48 |
| 100y butterfly | Lana Rodriguez | Garden City | 1:08:24 |
| 100y freestyle | Izabel Schmidt | Hays | 55.82 |
| 500y freestyle | Paige Chappel | Garden City | 6:08:50 |
| 200y freestyle relay | Emilee Hall Ellyson Somers Kamryn Johns Josephine Mazouch | Great Bend | 1:50:30 |
| 100y backstroke | Emilee Hall | Great Bend | 1:07:37 |
| 100y breaststroke | Avery Meng | Garden City | 1:12:30 |
| 400y freestyle relay | Paige Chappel Lexi Arwine Lana Rodriguez Avery Meng) | Garden City | 4:04:02 |
Coach of the Year: Cari Carper, Great Bend
