Glendale sweeps annual Ozarks Invitational

Saturday was one for the record books as the Glendale Lady Falcons swept the annual Ozarks Invitational at John H. Foster Natatorium in Springfield.

Playing leader in the Falcons’ triumph was Florida State commit Macie Beairsto, who set a new 100 yard freestyle meet record that previously had not been broken since 2008 (52.89).

Behind the senior’s two first-place finishes and relay performances, Glendale finished the meet with a total of 484.5 points.

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Six other Lady Falcons had top-five finishes, including Kaylee Sisson, Maddie Duncan, Audrey Mace, Cali Hackworth, Ashley Baldwin and Danielle Robinson. Three of these swimmers – Hackworth, Duncan and Sisson – finished in the top five twice.

Hackworth placed first in the 200 IM and fifth in the 100 breaststroke; Duncan placed second in the 500 free and fourth in the 200 free; and Sisson earned first in the 200 free and fifth in the 100 butterfly.

Head coach Steve Boyce said, “We’ve been training really hard. As a group, our big focus is the end of the year. The way to swim really well at the end of the year is you’ve got to go through this training. So Christmas break was just a whole lot of work, work, work. This week has been exhausting being back to school. We raced in Carthage on Tuesday. We raced last night. We came again today. We ought to be pretty exhausted, but mentally they just stepped up and went for it race after race.”

In addition to individual successes, three relay teams dominated also in the 200 medley and 200 and 400 free races.

Boyce also coaches the Ozark girls, who saw a big day from Chloe Nelson.

Nelson placed second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 100 butterfly, earning state cuts in each event.

The Lady Tiger relay team also did well, coming in close behind Glendale in the 200 medley with a time of 1:58.44.

“I couldn’t be happier with what they’ve done and where they are right now,” Boyce said.

Glendale and Ozark will travel to Parkway South in Manchester for a “powerhouse” meet, Boyce described.

Boyce said, “There’s a nice group up there –12 teams. Seven or eight of them will probably be in the top ten at state.”

Glendale will also host the Springfield Invitational in late January.

“We’ll be fired up and ready to go for that one when we get home,” Boyce said.

KICKAPOO

Coming in fourth-place with 234 points was the Kickapoo Lady Chiefs.

Krystal Caylor topped the 100 breaststroke event with a state-qualifying time of 1:09.44. The junior also placed second in the 100 free. Coming in close behind here was teammate Kayla Herron. Herron also placed third in the 50 free with a state cut (25.07).

“Krystal and Kayla I felt stepped up really well. We’ve swam hard the last three weeks. Between Christmas break and this past week we didn’t back off at all,” head coach Pete Hill said.  

Kickapoo’s 200 medley relay team placed third overall to make a state cut.

Hill said, “Across the board I feel like the girls really, really swam well tonight.”

Hill also coaches the Nixa team and is pleased with freshman Olivia Stoneman’s efforts this season.

Stoneman got a state cut by placing second in the 100 backstroke, a season best time according to Hill.

She also nabbed fifth in the 100 free, but was just a tenth of a second shy of getting a state cut.

The Kickapoo and Nixa teams are set to hit the road next week to Kansas City to swim at the KC Classic meet.

“That’s a good meet,” said Hill. “A lot of teams from all over the state come in. It’s usually fast, and it’s kind of a prequel to state.”

SUMMIT PREP/NEW COVENANT ACADEMY

Also placing in the top five was the Summit Prep/New Covenant Academy team with 200 points.

Molly Moore earned first-place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.08, a state cut. All-around athlete Claire Workman followed close behind, finishing sixth.

Behind Beairsto, Moore came in second in the 50 free (24.00) – also a state cut.  

Krista Shamizu, one of the top divers in the state, nabbed first-place in the diving portion of the meet with 454.85 points to set a new record.

“She’s getting better all the time, and it’s exciting to see what she’s going to do” head coach Alex Miller said.

Katie McCune took sixth in the 100 free and third in the 200 free, beating her twin sister Claire by merely milliseconds.  

Relay-wise the team took second and third in the 200 and 400 free events, respectively.

“They’re getting progressively faster,” said Miller.

Up next, the Summit Prep/NCA team will swim at a meet on Thursday and hit the road Saturday to the Mizzou Athletics Center in Columbia.

“They swam really fast there last year, so I’m hoping we have a big performance,” Miller said.

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