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The method was a little different this year. And maybe that partially prevented the Blue Springs girls swimming and diving team from manufacturing a more emphatic effort in Saturday’s Suburban Big Six Championships.
In the end, though, the result looked awfully familiar with the Wildcats accumulating 558 points to snag the program’s 12th consecutive conference title at Henley Aquatic Center in Independence.
That was more than enough to top second-place Liberty (339), Lee’s Summit North (332), Blue Springs South (298), Lee’s Summit (272) and Raymore-Peculiar (66).
Not that the Wildcats were looking past the conference meet, but Blue Springs co-coach Rob Sturman admitted there was more of a focus on the upcoming state meet than in seasons past.
Typically, the squad will have lighter practices during conference week. Not the case this year, Sturman said. And usually, the Cats will use technical suits at conference. But after a couple lackluster state efforts, they decided to take a do-it-on-your-own approach this year.
“We’re trying a whole different way,” Sturman said. “We’re making the cuts without them, making the cuts without a rest and putting everything in one basket.”
Sturman said there were some disappointments in the times clocked Saturday, but that didn’t mean the day was lacking highlights. First, the Wildcat divers kick-started the group the same way it has all season by notching three top-five finishes. Patty Pampolina came in second place with 377.45 points. Mariah Hagerty was fourth (364.50) and Allie Mata finished fifth (330.15).
“That’s been our strong point all year,” Sturman said.
There were positives on the swimming side also, with Ibby Simcox taking her usual first-place tallies in the 200-yard individual medley (2:14.91) and 100 butterfly (1:01.02). She also helped the Cats to the top time in the 200 medley relay (1:54.45) along with Corinne Rinne, Lexi Lezcano and Anna Juarez.
Rinne added a title in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.03) and Ashley Sturman finished tops in the 500 freestyle (5:27.14).
“I know some of the girls were just dead tired,” Rinne said, “and they still got their state cuts. We didn’t feel good and still went out and did our best.”
And the feeling of winning another championship, although old hat by now, hasn’t gotten stale.
“We’re trying so hard nonstop,” said Lezcano, who finished second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 breaststroke, respectively. “It’s not like we go into this meet thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to win it.’ We still try hard. We’re cheering our girls on, making sure we give each other support and all do our best.”
Things started rough for the Jaguars in the meet’s first race as they were disqualified for a false start in the 200 medley relay – a ruling South coach Errich Oberlander said he didn’t necessarily agree with. With the middle teams as compacted as they were, Oberlander said he knew that was going to be costly. But he was impressed by the resiliency he saw out of his girls.
The method was a little different this year. And maybe that partially prevented the Blue Springs girls swimming and diving team from manufacturing a more emphatic effort in Saturday’s Suburban Big Six Championships.
In the end, though, the result looked awfully familiar with the Wildcats accumulating 558 points to snag the program’s 12th consecutive conference title at Henley Aquatic Center in Independence.
That was more than enough to top second-place Liberty (339), Lee’s Summit North (332), Blue Springs South (298), Lee’s Summit (272) and Raymore-Peculiar (66).
Not that the Wildcats were looking past the conference meet, but Blue Springs co-coach Rob Sturman admitted there was more of a focus on the upcoming state meet than in seasons past.
Typically, the squad will have lighter practices during conference week. Not the case this year, Sturman said. And usually, the Cats will use technical suits at conference. But after a couple lackluster state efforts, they decided to take a do-it-on-your-own approach this year.
“We’re trying a whole different way,” Sturman said. “We’re making the cuts without them, making the cuts without a rest and putting everything in one basket.”
Sturman said there were some disappointments in the times clocked Saturday, but that didn’t mean the day was lacking highlights. First, the Wildcat divers kick-started the group the same way it has all season by notching three top-five finishes. Patty Pampolina came in second place with 377.45 points. Mariah Hagerty was fourth (364.50) and Allie Mata finished fifth (330.15).
“That’s been our strong point all year,” Sturman said.
There were positives on the swimming side also, with Ibby Simcox taking her usual first-place tallies in the 200-yard individual medley (2:14.91) and 100 butterfly (1:01.02). She also helped the Cats to the top time in the 200 medley relay (1:54.45) along with Corinne Rinne, Lexi Lezcano and Anna Juarez.
Rinne added a title in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.03) and Ashley Sturman finished tops in the 500 freestyle (5:27.14).
“I know some of the girls were just dead tired,” Rinne said, “and they still got their state cuts. We didn’t feel good and still went out and did our best.”
And the feeling of winning another championship, although old hat by now, hasn’t gotten stale.
“We’re trying so hard nonstop,” said Lezcano, who finished second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 breaststroke, respectively. “It’s not like we go into this meet thinking, ‘Oh, we’re going to win it.’ We still try hard. We’re cheering our girls on, making sure we give each other support and all do our best.”
Things started rough for the Jaguars in the meet’s first race as they were disqualified for a false start in the 200 medley relay – a ruling South coach Errich Oberlander said he didn’t necessarily agree with. With the middle teams as compacted as they were, Oberlander said he knew that was going to be costly. But he was impressed by the resiliency he saw out of his girls.
“We bounced back,” he said. “That’s the key. That’s what I’m more excited about anyway is that we came back and didn’t let that get us down.”
Bre Schlenger earned her third consecutive conference title in diving with 404.10 points and Morgan Connors clocked South’s top swimming finish with a first-place performance in the 200 freestyle (1:59.93). Kayla Cannon also broke the program’s freshman record in the 100 backstroke by finishing in 1:02.16 for a second-place mark.
“That was a shocker,” Cannon said. “I was two seconds off the freshman school record and I went in with a good attitude and I got it. ... I definitely cried when I found out of excitement. I was just in disbelief.”
Truman, which came in fourth in the Middle Six with 173 points, recorded a pair of solid times in the relay events. Kramer Knipp, Jordan Esry, Cary Hotson and Allison Timko teamed for a fourth-place time in the 400 freestyle relay (4:50.30) while Taylor Williams, Kylie Malmberg, Kaylee Miller and Loise Yerson finished fourth in the 200 freestyle relay (2:05.22).
Patriots coach Trevor Tomney said he was most encouraged by the improvement his team – which will return 30 of its 33 swimmers next season – showed at the end of the year.
“There were a lot of time drops and that’s what it’s all about at conference is big time drops,” he said.
The race for the Middle Six crown wasn’t without drama. Going into the meet’s final race, Park Hill held a comfortable 40-point lead and figured to have the championship secured. But the Trojans were disqualified in the 400 freestyle relay after one of their swimmers forgot to remove a hair tie from her wrist, violating the rule against jewelry.
The DQ resulted in co-champions as Lee’s Summit West caught the Trojans to finish with 544 points.
