Tyler Sandrock ‘24 captured one individual gold medal and was a critical cog in three essential relay results to ignite St. Thomas to its ninth consecutive TAPPS Division I East Region championship at the Univesity of Houston Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium.

Sandrock, Zach Haine ‘25, Ryan Bordas ‘25, Ben Thoede ‘24, and Ryan Gentile ‘24 led an armada of talent, skill, and superlative times as the Aqua Eagles stacked 186 points to outpace The Village School (154), and Tomball Concordia Lutheran (57).

Sandrock’s impact was measured throughout the competition. He blitzed the 100 yard butterfly in 53.19, then teamed with Luke Orr ‘26, Owen Sweeney ‘25, and Thoede to rake the 200 freestyle relay (1:31.66).

Sandrock collaborated with Sweeney, Bordas, and Gentile for silver in the 200 medley relay (1:43.96), and joined Thoede, Gentile, and Haine to close the regional title with gusto, seizing the 400 free relay in 3:29.22.

Haine also cashed gold in the 200 free (1:53.98) and silver in the 500 free (5:10.67).

Thoede claimed the silver in the 100 free (51.87) to lead a 3-4-6 result from Benji Mundell ‘26 (54.38), brother Sam Thoede ‘26 (54.75), and Orr (55.70). Ben also took bronze in the 50 free (22.95) ahead of Sweeney (fourth in 23.34) and Mundell ‘26 (fifth in 24.10).

Gentile collected bronze results in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.37) and 100 fly (56.31).

Bordas placed third in the 200 IM (2:17.82) and fourth in the 100 breast (1:01.37) behind Gentile to front a 6-7 finish from Sweeney (1:08.52) and Thomas Higginbotham ‘24 (1:29.04).

Other notable results include:

Sam Thoede fourth, Nathan Ridgway ‘24 fifth, and Aaron Noyola ‘24 sixth in the 200 free

Ridgway fifth and Andres Levaro ‘26 sixth in the 500 free behind Hanie’s silver

Matthew Healey ‘25 fifth and Louis Comeaux ‘27 sixth in the 100 fly behind Sandrock’s gold

Orr fourth, Healey fifth, and Evan Lorkowski ‘27 sixth in the 200 individual medley

Lorkowski fourth and William Lucas ‘27 fifth in the 100 backstroke

Eagle state qualifiers advance to the Division I championships February 12 at the Josh Davis Natatorium in San Antonio.

The fifth season with head coach VanArthur Jones continues the program’s recent wave to elite status within the top tier of the Texas ranks. St. Thomas staked consecutive runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022 and three in five years to pair with the Eagles’ breakthrough state crown in 2019 and the successful title defense in 2020.

Eagle Fight Never Dies!