GCHS senior Brylee West earns Swimmer of Year honor
When the 2026 spring girls’ swimming season was about to begin in late March, Garden City High School coach Jennifer Meng decided there was no reason to change her strategy to try and win another Western Athletic Conference championship in mid-May.
After all, her careful planning and plotting to determine how best to assign her swimmers to various events to pile up points had worked both in 2024 and in 2025.
When she began preseason workouts, she got the good news that she had more girls’ out for the program than she had in the previous two seasons.
“I felt like we would have more depth than we had and obviously in the WAC. That’s a big part of how you win,” Meng said.
The Lady Buffs got off to a roaring start by winning the 200-yard medley relay over Great Bend but also placed its other team in third. The team, which clocked a time of 2:07.09 to win over Great Bend by 2.2 seconds, was comprised of Ellie Sekavec, Jencie Stocking, Emma Wheeler and Lauren Lightner.
But it was the third-place finish by Abigail Wise, Bryanna Ramos, Makaeley Miner and Tegan Snodgrass that had Meng beaming. Their time was 2:24.49.
“I knew after that race if we just swam to our capabilities, we would be in good shape,” Coach Meng said. “The girls did just that and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Of the 11 events, 8 individual and 3 relays, the Lady Buffs won all three of the relays and added five individual titles.
Senior Brylee West and junior Livi Meng were the ringleaders, each winning two events and then swimming on two of the winning relay teams together. Those two finished with 32 points from the four events to share the top spot toward Swimmer of the Year award, but the coaches voted for West primarily since this is her senior season.
“It’s the way we’ve usually done it when two swimmers tie, we award it to the senior,” Coach Meng said. “I’m happy for Brylee because she has put so much into our program during her four years and we will sorely miss her.”
Meng said that based upon the competition within the WAC schools during the regular season, she had a feeling that her Buffs would be in a good position to repeat.
“This group of girls were committed from the very beginning of the season, and they worked extremely hard through all the difficult training and the meet schedule,” Coach Meng said. “There’s nothing easy about swimming and if you don’t enjoy it, then it can be a difficult sport in which to compete.”
West’s two individual titles came in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:12.70, and then in her favorite race, the 100-yard breaststroke, with a clocking of 1:16.03.
Meng, meanwhile, took the two shortest freestyle events in the 50 (26.33 seconds) and the 100-yard (1:00.07).
The two shared the first and anchor legs of both the 200- and 400-yard winning freestyle relays. Those times were 1:49.97 and 4:03.11.
“They’ve pretty much been our two fastest freestyle swimmers this year,” Coach Meng said.
Sekavec was the other individual event winner, taking the 500-yard freestyle marathon with a time of 6:17.24 to clip Lucy Tippy of Hays by 1.71 seconds.
There have been previous seasons where the Buffs captured most events but didn’t have the overall depth to stave off Great Bend, which has dominated the sport since the WAC was formed in 1984-85.
“We were blessed to have enough girls to figure out who to place in the different events to give us the best chance of getting the most possible points,” Coach Meng said.
The Buffs, in addition to their eight firsts, added four seconds, two thirds, and five fourths to the scoring output.
“It’s all done in the water,” Coach Meng said in praising her team. “That’s what matters. We had a lot of girls who cut times that day, but I’m not surprised.”
The Buffs had all its relays qualify for the 6A state this season along with Meng and West in their specialties, but the focus for Coach Meng and the team has always been the WAC.
“We know competing at state is very challenging with the teams from the eastern part of the state,” Meng said, “so, we focus on the WAC as kind of being like our state meet where we can compete.”
Coach Meng also mentioned that several of her team members do not compete in other sports.
“This is their one sport and for them it’s exciting,” Coach Meng said. “This means so much to them, to the Buffs’ family, the coaches and is the most important meet of the season.”
BRYLEE WEST, Garden City High School, Sr. – WAC Swimmer of the Year
When Brylee West was a freshman swimmer for the Garden City Lady Buffaloes, she was just learning the ropes of high school competition after a successful summer of AAU meets.
When she, along with her teammates, fell short in the Western Athletic Conference meet that year, West was bound and determined to change the outcome the following year.
After all, Great Bend had been the dominating force in girls’ WAC swimming, having won 20 of 21 championships starting in 2003. Garden City had won four straight titles from 1999 to 2002.
When 2026 rolled around and West now in her senior and final campaign for the Buffs, she wanted to be sure she and her team capped off their own mini streak.
By winning the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke, along with anchoring two winning relays, West and her Lady Buffs made this year’s championship a cakewalk, rolling up 413 points to runner-up Hays’ 335.
In the process, West shared the high point honors with junior teammate Livi Meng and then was voted the WAC Swimmer of the Year, as both scored 32 points. The breakdown was 8 points for each individual title and then 8 points as one of four relay swimmers.
“It feels awesome,” a smiling West said afterward. “I put in a lot of work, and this is a nice reward.”
West had high praise for her teammates and coaches.
“Everybody contributed,” West said. “The few seniors we had (Emma Wheeler, Lauren Lightner and West) but we had good leadership from juniors and sophomores who all pulled their weight.”
It seemed appropriate to West that her final individual event at WAC was breaststroke.
“I don’t exactly know why, but breaststroke has always been my favorite since I was a kid,” she said. “I think I cut about four seconds off my best time this year, so that is very exciting.”
With the 6A state championship a week after WAC, West could see the finish line of her high school career.
“It’s gone so fast,” she said. “I’ve made so many friends, so many memories that will last a lifetime. I’m grateful to all of them, to my coaches and others who kept me going.”
West said she will attend Kansas State University and pursue a degree in finance. She already has earned her associate degree from Garden City Community College.
“I’ll be done then,” West said. “It’s time to hang up the goggles.”
Western Athletic Conference
Girls Swimming Championship
Thursday, May 14, 2026 • Garden City Family YMCA Pool
Team Scores
1. Garden City, 413; 2. Hays, 335; 3. Great Bend, 187;4. Liberal, 166; 5. Dodge City, 146
Event Winners (All-WAC First Team)
| EVENT | NAME | SCHOOL | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200y medley relay | Ellie Sekavec Jencie Stocking Emma Wheeler Lauren Lightner | Garden City | 2:07.09 |
| 200-yard freestyle | Brylee West | Garden City | 2:12.70 |
| 200-yard individual medley | Jaylen Hughes | Hays | 2:27.42 |
| 50-yard freestyle | Livi Meng | Garden City | 26.33 |
| 100-yard butterfly | Jaylen Hughes | Hays | 1:06.50 |
| 100-yard freestyle | Livi Meng | Garden City | 1:00.07 |
| 500-yard freestyle | Ellie Sekavec | Garden City | 6:17.24 |
| 200-yard freestyle relay | Livi Meng Lauren Lightner Tegan Snodgrass Brylee West | Garden City | 1:49.97 |
| 100-yard backstroke | Cailin DeBey | Hays | 1:13.59 |
| 100-yard breaststroke | Brylee West | Garden City | 1:16.03 |
| 400-yard freestyle relay | Livi Meng Jencie Stocking Ellie Sekavec Brylee West | Garden City | 4:03.71 |
WAC Coach of the Year – Lauren Jordan, Great Bend.
