By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
WEBB CITY, Mo. – Webb City had already won back-to-back Central Ozark Conference meets, but Thursday’s win was special.
The Cardinals won four events and scored a total of 29 times as they cruised to a first-place finish in their home pool in the first official COC girls swimming championship meet.
“It feels pretty good,” Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said. “We talked a lot about how this one will mean a little bit more than the others. We looked at the entries and knew if they didn’t have an inspired night anyone could steal it from us, it was going to be close. They definitely were inspired tonight.”
Webb City got off to a quick start by setting a pool record in the 200-yard medley relay. Anna Swearengen, Paige Williams, Mary Bean and Allie Storm finished in 1:57.05, besting the record of 1:57.51 set in last year’s COC meet. That time also qualified the relay for the state meet.
“It was nice to beat that because it’s going to give them a little confidence they can score even higher at state this year than they did last year,” Klosterman said.
Bean had a huge day for the Cardinals, adding wins in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles. She won the 50 in 25.77 seconds, a state consideration time, and finished the 100 in 55.86 seconds.
Ashley Cole added a first-place finish in the 1-meter diving.
Webb City also earned an automatic state bid in the 200 freestyle relay despite finishing second. Storm, Williams, Ashley Philpot and Bean finished in 1:45.04, well under the state qualifying time of 1:45.99.
That time would have been a pool record, too, if not for Nixa’s first-place finish. The Eagles turned in a state-qualifying time of 1:44.63 with Ellie Turnbull, Ellie Jett, Sara Baxter and Olivia Stoneman swimming.
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“It was nice to see May get to win two events her senior year,” Klosterman said. “That’s fun. She and her sister Macy and Allie Storm are probably putting in the hardest work this season that I’ve ever had out of a group of girls. For them to swim that fast tonight was nice because they should be beaten up and tired and not ready to go fast. It’s nice to see them get up and go like that.”
Klosterman said the big highlight was qualifying for state in the two relays.
“We were a little bit nervous about if we didn’t get the automatic what it would take to get in so that’s a weight off our shoulders,” he said. “We had too many giant time drops to even go through the list. They just swam so well. I can’t even think of any swims that weren’t right at their best or better.”
Nixa, meanwhile, actually had a sizable lead after two events but had to settle for second place. The Eagles finished 55 points behind Webb City but topped Carl Junction by 33.
“We’d been practicing really well all week,” Nixa coach Nick Brinck said. “We just came off of a really busy week last week and we had a lot of really good swims. We were in Kansas City over the weekend and the girls swam lights out. We figured it would roll over a little bit but we got back into town on Monday and got after it in practice. They’re a little more tired than they were over the weekend but I was very pleased with every single one of them.”
Stoneman turned in a strong performance for the Eagles, winning both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke and swimming on the first-place 200 and 400 relays.
Her time in the butterfly was 1:01.25, a state-qualifying time, and she won the backstroke in 1:03.05, a state consideration time.
The 400 relay of Ellie Turnbull, Heidi Glintborg, Baxter and Stoneman won with a consideration time of 3:54.43.
Turnbull also won the 200 freestyle in 2:10.33, earning a state consideration time in the process.
Nixa’s biggest event, though, was the 50 freestyle where the Eagles had four swimmers finish in the top seven. Glintborg was third, Turnbull was fifth, Baxter sixth and Jett seventh. They combined for 38 points.
Carl Junction was the only other school with a first-place finish.
Tyne Holt won the 200-yard individual medley in 2:23.52, a consideration time. Teammate Sophia Hensley followed in second place.
Holt won the 500 freestyle in 5:56.01, another consideration time.
Emma Lacey won the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.32, also a state consideration time.
Ozark’s highlights were three second-place finishes and four third-place finishes.
Claire George placed second in the 50 freestyle in 26.32 seconds, a state consideration time. She took second in the 100 free in 56.43 seconds, a consideration time. In the 500, Emily Cobb was second in 6:01.62.
The relay of George, Brooklyn Bass, Ashley Mallonee and Cobb took third in the 200 medley.
Cobb was third in the 200 freestyle, Mallonee was third in the 100 breaststroke and Cobb, Mallonee, Emmy Pierson and George were third in the 400 relay.
Joplin’s best finish was second in the 100 butterfly, where Brenna Jones finished in 1:06.92, a consideration time.
Carthage was fourth in the 200 medley relay with Karsen Dininger, Carrie Wallace, Nadya Housh and Cassidy Smith swimming. Housh was fourth in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 butterfly. Hope Felt, Emily Calhoon, Ainsley Frieling and Carrie Wallace were fourth in the 200 relay, and Smith, Fultz, Housh and Dininger were fourth in the 400 relay.
Team standings
Webb City 298
Nixa 243
Carl Junction 210
Carthage 167
Ozark 160
Joplin 121
