Sachse sophomore Augustus Friedel (boys 100 butterfly), left, and senior Ashley Delhomme (girls 1-meter diving) competed in the UIL Class 6A state swimming and diving championships in Austin on Feb. 14-15. Photo courtesy of Philip Wiggins
By David Wolman
Sachse senior Ashley Delhomme and sophomore Augustus Friedel concluded their season at the UIL Class 6A state swimming and diving championships.
Delhomme made history by becoming the first Sachse swimmer to compete in the state finals.
One year ago, Delhomme missed qualifying for the girls’ 1-meter diving final at the state meet by 16 points.
Despite that disappointment, Lady Mustangs head coach Philip Wiggins was confident that she would triumph over that shortcoming.
The biggest reason why Wiggins had so much belief in Delhomme is because of her work ethic.
“She dives for a club team, Dallas Metroplex Diving,” Wiggins said. “She practices at SMU five and, sometimes, six days a week. She’s a great person, a great leader on the team. She has a very high level of commitment.”
Fast-forward to two weeks ago, and Delhomme advanced out of the preliminaries and qualified for the finals.
Delhomme made a big splash in her final event in a high school competition, placing 12th overall with a total score of 361.2 points. Her preliminary score of 260.95 was good for ninth place and more than enough for her to earn a spot in the finals at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin. Her score in the preliminaries was 30 points higher than last year.
“It was a great last meet for Ashley, especially with her being a senior,” Wiggins said. “This past offseason, she was kind of fine-tuning some stuff and working on the details. She worked on her approach. She does club diving as well, so I knew that she had spent time working on the details and her twists.”
Sophomore Augustus Friedel, meanwhile, finished 15th in the boys’ 100-meter butterfly with a time of 49.83 seconds.
Although he didn’t qualify for the finals, Friedel broke his own school and district record at the state meet.
It’s already been an accomplished high school career for Friedel, who placed second in regionals to earn one of two automatic berths into the state meet in the 100 fly. He’s also the school record holder in the 100 free, 200 free and 500 free and also as one leg in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
“He’s on the edge of being something really special,” Wiggins said. “He’s a great talent. He’s a great kid and a hard worker.”
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