Coming off a successful 2025, Jesuit Swimming and Diving made sure to stick to their New Year’s Resolution—maintaining a three-year win streak. However, this was not an easy task. At the 2026 Jesuit Invitational on Saturday, January 10 at the Gull, Houston rival Strake Jesuit and Regional rival Plano Senior came ready to rumble, both going head-to-head with the Rangers in a meet that came down to the wire. Several talented swimmers clocked in swift times, filling every heat with vigor and intensity. The Rangers faced losses in several events but were able to make up this ground with their depth, consistency, and perseverance. The final score was 644 (Jesuit) to 617.5 (Strake Jesuit) to 466.5 (Plano Senior), the Rangers coming out as the cherry on top and securing another hard-fought victory.
A Head Start
1-Meter Diving
Kicking off the meet, Jesuit Diving made a clean entry into competition, no pun intended. Kobus Brewton ’28 won the event with a score of 139.55, not far off his personal best. In second was Strake Diver Anthony Schroer, scoring a 109.55. Rounding it up for the Rangers, Koen Mathys ’27 finished at an 81.50, and Nolan Talley ’29 finished at a 70.55. Additionally, Talley was scored at a 4.5 on his Inward Dive (401C), achieving his highest score all season. Despite the initial 53 points that Diving earned for team, Strake and Plano Senior proved challenging, coming into play during the swimming portion of the meet.
Early Struggles
200 Medley Relay
In this event, Jesuit came in second and third, grabbing two of the three podium spots. Strake Jesuit’s “A” relay finished at a 1:33.87, which also counted as a pool record that would go under their school’s name. In second was Jesuit’s “A” relay of Sam Kennington ’26, Jonah Ruhl ’27, Luke Lary ’26, and Sebastian Suwanda ’26, clocking in at a 1:40.48. Not far behind in third was the Rangers’ “B” relay of Peter Hasik ’27, Grant Wilton ’27, Drew Shippey ’27, and Porter Pope ’28, touching at a 1:45.82. Despite the loss, Jesuit’s relay splits proved strong, promising results as the Rangers head into the Postseason.
200 Free
The Rangers were able to capture one podium spot with a third-place finish, as well as fifth, eighth, ninth, 11th, and 13th. Touching in first was Strake’s Jacob Bougaieff, and in second was another swimmer of theirs, Jack Madden, both clocking in at 1:41.24 and 1:44.16, respectively. Sebastian Suwanda would take bronze, finishing at a 1:48.00. Following him were Rangers JP McCosker ’27 (5th – 1:52.93), Noah Ruhl ’28 (8th – 1:58.59), Peter Hasik (9th – 2:00.33), Knox Brookshire ’28 (11th – 2:10.49), and Corbin Turner ’29 (13th – 2:13.44).
50 Free
This event came down to the touch, the Rangers capturing four of the top eight spots in the fastest heat as well as bronze. Weirdly enough, the 50 presented two winners, Evan Halastaras from Strake Jesuit and Quinn Shilliday from Plano Senior, tying with a time of 22.31 and only receiving 18.5 points each, 1.5 less than first place would have received without the tie. One hundredth later, almost tripling the tie, was Sam Kennington, touching at a 22.32. For the other three Rangers, Luke Lary finished in fourth at a 22.54, Charlie Plummer ’28 finished in sixth at a 24.46, and William Hutchins ’27 finished in eighth at a 24.56.
Comeback Season
100 Free
Out of the top four spots in this event, three belonged to Rangers. Jonah Ruhl touched in first at a 46.61, grabbing gold. In a close race for second was Plano Senior’s Daniel Gurley and Porter Pope, Pope finishing only 18 hundredths behind Gurley with a best time of 49.77. In fourth was Sam Kennington, clocking in a 50.61.
500 Free
Due to Jesuit’s outstanding depth in the 500 Free, they were able to go 2-4-5-7, four top finishes out of nine swimmers. Jacob Bougaieff of Strake finished in first at 4:35.01. In second was Sebastian Suwanda, holding off a hefty battle from another Strake swimmer and touching at a 4:57.29, only being three hundredths faster than his challenger. JP McCosker took fourth at a 5:13.81, Grant Wilton took fifth at a 5:13.89, and Noah Ruhl took seventh at a 5:21.12.
100 Back
Probably Jesuit’s most successful event of the meet, the Rangers dominated the 100 Back, claiming first, third through sixth, and ninth. Drew Shippey finished in first, clocking in at a 57.46. In a close battle for second, Michael Tobin ’27 took third with a 1:01.19, and Peter Hasik took fourth with a 1:01.58, both fresh off the 200 Free Relay. Rounding out the Rangers were George Weaver ’26 (1:03.31), Lucas Coloso ’28 (1:03.67), and Jonah Tavares ’26 (1:06.98).
400 Free Relay
This was one event that proved to be very exciting, as the Rangers heavily anticipated Strake to be very strong in this race. Indeed, they took first at a 3:09.32, and additionally, they captured the pool record by over a second. In second was the Rangers’ “A” relay of Luke Lary, Sebastian Suwanda, Sam Kennington, and Jonah Ruhl, finishing at a 3:15.21. In the race for third were Jesuit and Strake’s “B” relays, Jesuit’s squad of Porter Pope, Charlie Plummer, JP McCosker, and Drew Shippey holding off Strake’s “B” squad. This two-way race proved to be in Strake’s favor for the first half of the race, but the Rangers were able to make up some ground towards the end, securing third by only four tenths and giving Jesuit the title of Jesuit Invitational Champions.
“there were some things that went wrong but also some successes. nevertheless we got the win. our attention is now on districts.” – senior captain sebastian suwanda ’26
Looking Ahead
At the time of me writing this, Jesuit has won their JV District 7-6A meet, so look forward to a separate article about that soon. Coming up on the team now is the Varsity District 7-6A Championships on Saturday, January 24 at the Alfred J. Loos Natatorium. For Rangers who score in the top six in any of their events, they will head to the Region 2-6A Championships being held on February 6-7 in Lewisville. Any Rangers who swim fast enough at this meet will qualify for the UIL 6A State Championships, being held on February 20-21 in Austin. Be on the lookout for the Rangers’ successes!
Stay tuned into The Roundup for more Swimming and Diving coverage!
