(Photo courtesy @GHSwim_dive)
The Glendale boys swim team claimed the program’s first team state swimming championship on Friday. The Falcons scored 247 points as a team to outdistance second place Central (Cape Girardeau) by 24 points.
The Falcons built to the title throughout the year as six of the seven swimmers who scored points were non-seniors.
“We had a really maturity about what we were doing at practice this year, and really just some guys coming of age,” Glendale head coach Steve Boyce said. “We had seven different guys score points with one senior, a couple juniors, three sophomores and a freshman. They really liked to challenge each other in practice and get ready.”
Glendale’s 200-yard medley relay featuring Lucas Chadwell, Andrew McIllwain, Trey Flouer and Jack Beatty got things off to a strong start by finishing fourth place in the 200-yard medley relay to open the finals.
Michael Jasinski was up next for the Falcons finishing as the state runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.07.
The Falcons picked up big points in the 50-yard freestyle with Flouer (fifth – 21.90), Beatty (sixth – 21.92) and McIllwain (eighth – 22.26) all finishing in the top eight to pick up a combined 39 points.
That trio of swimmers has been key to the success for Glendale all season.
“There is such a great battle with those kids on ‘who is faster today?’. They battle each other at practice and challenge each other. They have a good time battling all season long to see who can be just a little bit faster,” Boyce said.
Jasinski added his second all-state finish by taking fifth place in the 100-yard freestyle in 46.60.
Collin McNew got in on the all-state action for Glendale by finishing sixth in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:48.98.
Glendale picked up a state championship finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:27.40. McIllwain, McNew, Beatty and Jasinski were the members of that relay swimming splits of 22.30, 22.65, 21.54 and 20.91.
Flouer (fourth – 51.62) and Chadwell (seventh – 53.50) both were top eight in the 100-yard backstroke.
Glendale closed out the day with McNew, Flouer, Chadwell and Jasinski combining to finish third on the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The Ozarks had two other individuals bring home state titles in Nevada’s Ben Hines and Carthage’s Brayden Cole.
Hines set an all-class record in the 50-yard freestyle with a blistering time of 20.07. He then turned around and set a class record when he won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 45.28.
Cole won his title in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.69, which was well ahead of the second place finish time of 58.03. He set the class record in the event in the prelims with a time of 56.49.
Swimming in southwest Missouri is ascending according to Boyce.
“There is a lot of good swimming in southwest Missouri. We saw some fantastic things at the end of the season in our southwest Missouri championships,” Boyce said. “The depth of (swimming) has changed and made it very competitive. You need that competitiveness in the local region if you are going to be successful at the state level.”
Below are the other top 8 finishes for the area’s swimmers not already mentioned above
4th – Gavin Schulte, Camdenton (50-yard freestyle – 21.89)
4th – Andrew Atwood, Rogersville (100-yard butterfly – 51.03)
4th – Joseph Tetlow, Central (100-yard breaststroke – 1:00.00)
5th – Ben Hines, Kalen Morris, Braden Russell & Grant Miller, Nevada – (200-yard freestyle relay – 1:29.92)
7th – Gavin Schulte, Camdenton (100-yard freestyle – 48.46)
7th – Evan Riley, Glendale (Diving – 385.70)
