Four area swimmers earn individual state medals

Several area swimmers qualified for the MSHSSA state meet, but only a few finished with medals at Saturday’s finals round in St. Peters.

Summit Prep/New Covenant Academy’s Molly Moore, a freshman, was the only local athlete to win a state title. Her teammate Krista Shimizu finished in the top five in diving.

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Glendale’s Macie Beairsto took two second place finishes, and teammate Kaylee Sisson earned a sixth place medal.

Krystal Caylor of Kickapoo also earned a couple of medals on Saturday.

The Glendale Lady Falcons finished seventh overall, Summit Prep/NCA took ninth and Kickapoo placed 15th.

Rock Bridge came out on top with a total of 260 points.

MOLLY MOORE

Summit Prep/New Covenant Academy saw its first-ever state title when Molly Moore topped  the 50 freestyle event, clocked at 23.66 seconds.

The only person who may have enjoyed that moment even more than the winner was her coach, Alex Miller, who happily placed Moore’s first place medal around her neck.

Miller said, “Every coach looks forward to it and then when it happens it’s almost like, ‘Whoa! It’s my turn to give out this medal.’ It’s a happy moment. I’m happy for Molly because she’s worked really, really hard. There are great things to come.”

Molly also placed seventh in the 100 backstroke.

“Molly continues to impress,” Miller said. “She was a little nervous going into today as you would imagine, and she stepped up and did what she knew she needed to do.”

The Summit Prep/NCA team, which consists of only five girls, took ninth place overall.

“That’s a big deal when you’ve got five kids,” said Miller.

Teammate Kzrista Shamizu also contributed to the win by placing fifth in diving with a total of 352.85 points.

The 200 freestyle relay team, made up of Moore, Claire Workman, and Katie and Claire McCune, came in fourth.

MACIE BEAIRSTO

Senior Macie Beairsto picked up a couple of second place medals on Saturday to help Glendale earn seventh place overall.

After winning the 200 free last year, a familiar Rock Bridge opponent was out for revenge this time around.

Kelley Tackett, a longtime friendly foe of Beairsto’s, beat her by nearly half a second to take the gold medal.

Beairsto also earned second place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.64 seconds.

“Macie battled really well in both of her events for those second places,” Glendale head coach Steve Boyce said.

Beairsto was also on the 200 and 400 relay teams that won third and sixth place, respectively.

“The free relays were super to put themselves in the top eight,” Boyce said.

Of the 13 Lady Falcons who competed on Saturday, only three will graduate, including Beairsto.

“There are not very many teams who will return with the depth we have. 2016 was a blast. Excited for the next one already,” said Boyce.

KRYSTAL CAYLOR

When Kickapoo’s Krystal Caylor finished her 200 IM race and saw her time on the scoreboard, she was all smiles.

“I came in seeded fifth for finals and ended up fourth in the 200 IM, which was a really good moment for me,” Caylor said.  

The junior also placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke to contribute to Kickapoo’s 15th place overall.

“It was a lot of fun to come out here with all these people and all the competition,” Caylor said.

She added, “As a whole we did pretty well. Kickapoo is a really small team this year, but we also brought Olivia Stoneman (Nixa) and she did really well in her events as a freshman.”

Stoneman, who is also coached by Kickapoo’s Pete Hill, placed ninth and 14th in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly consolation rounds, respectively.

KAYLEE SISSON

Kaylee Sisson, also a Glendale Falcon, won a sixth place medal in the 50 free event.

In addition, the senior placed ninth in the 100 free consolation round.

Sisson was also on the 200 and 400 relay teams that won third and sixth place, respectively.

FINAL RESULTS