Grant Koudelka thought he was a bronze medalist on Saturday. The instincts of the Gilmer sophomore were off, but that turned out to be good news.

Koudelka was a silver medalist, placing second in the Class 4A boys 500-yard freestyle at the UIL State Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at the Jamail Texas Swim Center. Koudelka also competed in the 200-yard freestyle, placing eighth.

In the 500, Koudelka was strong in the final 150, moving up from fourth to second. Koudelka passed Austin Johnson's Kevin Ku during the eighth lap, finishing with a time of 4 minutes, 42.64 seconds to Ku's time of 4:43.24. Chris Griffin of Lake Travis won the state title in 4:33.73.

Koudelka is the lone member of Gilmer's swim team. He gave credit to training from his club-team coach, Clark Wilson of the Champion Aquatic Team, for his late kick. Koudelka had a time 4:48.88 winning the Region IV title two weeks ago in Shenandoah.

"Coach Wilson always tells me to keep building until the end. I really pushed it at the end because I was afraid I wasn't going to medal," Koudelka said. "When I touched the wall, I thought I had third place. I would have been happy with any medal."

Koudelka had a time of 1:45.45, after a preliminary time of 1:47.09 on Friday. Bobby Button of Mansfield Timberview won the state title 1:39.81.

"I felt slow in the 200 on Friday, but I felt good today," Koudelka said. "I dropped time from what I did on Friday. I'm pretty happy about how I did in the 200 too."

PT diver Conway places eighth

AUSTIN — Pine Tree diver Lindsey Conway placed eighth in Class 4A at the UIL State Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at the Jamail Texas Swim Center.

Conway had a total of 324.40 points. Kara McCormack of Austin Johnson won the state title with a total of 479.40, followed by Corpus Christi Ray's Zoe Alaniz (437.25) and Highland Park's Lindsey Streepey (425.40). McCormack was the 2008 and 2009 state runner-up.

A senior, Conway placed fifth in the state in 2008 and 2009. Conway had a total of 317.35 in 2008 and a total of 337.95 in 2009. Conway won the Region IV championships with a total of 401.45 two weeks ago in Shenandoah.