State swimming: Wade Pyle cracks top-eight in two events, breaks records

The junior set new school and area-best marks in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at the IHSA Boys Swimming and Diving Finals

Inkspot Staff and Ethane Delio • Apr 3, 2025

Junior Wade Pyle took home two State medals and set new school bests at the IHSA State Swimming and Diving Finals in February. Image Courtesy of: Community Athletics Department

Wade Pyle recorded a pair of top-eight finishes at the IHSA Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals on Feb. 28, placing eighth in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races.

The junior swam a 21.08 in the 50- free and a 46.18 in the 100-, advancing to Saturday’s finals after breaking two school records during Friday’s preliminaries.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Pyle qualified for finals with a time of 20.72—eclipsing the previous school record of 21.19, set by Evan Lowder in 2020.

Pyle also broke the all-area best in the 100- free, previously held by U-High’s Colton Stoger at 45.46.

Pyle’s achievements come after setting school records in the 100- and 200- at last year’s state meet.

Freshman Nolan Pyle joined his older brother at State, finishing 31st in the 200- freestyle in his debut.

Junior Sam Grojean also returned to the State meet for the third straight year—his first tseason competing individually. Grojean placed 31st in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.74, falling just 0.3 seconds short of breaking the school record.

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Inkspot Staff

Stories published under “Inkspot Staff” are unattributed to a single reporter because they: have been produced through a collaborative staff effort; individual staff member contribution is not easily distinguishable; they are the product of an in-class activity or lesson; and/or the story was disseminated from announcements or press releases.

Ethane Delio, Staff Writer

Ethane Delio is a senior at Normal Community High School. This is his first year with the Inkspot, where he is a staff writer. I find inspiration in the small moments of everyday life, believing that the most profound truths often lie in the simplest experiences. I enjoy watching movies, going to the gym and playing games. A motto I adhere to is “Write confidently, revise kindly,and speak up with your voice.”