Congrats to area swimmers, runners

Nov. 5 was a momentous day for some local high school teams and athletes.

Both the Cape Girardeau Central boys swim team and the Jackson girls cross country team won their first ever state titles that day.

For the Cape Central swim team, victory came following a bit of adversity. A disqualification during the 200 individual medley race, the third race of the day, took away five points in what was expected to be a tight finish in the final standings. But the Tigers didn’t dwell. They secured a win in the 200 medley relay (Jacob Bening, Brogan Davis, Sam Hahs and Reagan Ragsdale set a state record in 1 minute, 32.63 seconds) and claimed their championship with a win in the 400 medley relay to bring their total to 227, beating out Rock Bridge by 17 points in the final standings. Bening, Davis Ragsdale and Truman Vines competed in that final event.

Individual champions were Davis (200 IM, 100 butterfly) and Ragsdale (50 freestyle and 100 freestyle). Bening took third in the 100 freestyle.

The Jackson girls cross country team used a total team effort to claim its Class 4 title. The Indians finished with 134 points to edge Lee’s Summit West by four points. Sophomore Kaylee Wilson led Jackson, finishing 17th to earn all-state honors.

The Notre Dame girls cross country team finished second in Class 3, falling to Bolivar by just six points. Katie Hanners (third) and Alaina Baumgart (sixth) were all-state for the Bulldogs.

In Class 2 boys cross country, Woodland’s Logan Thomsen (21st) and Brandon Sitzes (24th) were all-state as well as St. Vincent’s Andrew Lipe (22nd) and Saxony Lutheran’s Caleb Cornelius (10th).

St. Vincent’s Corin Carroll was all-state on the girls side in Class 2 with a 17th-place finish.

In Class 1 Zalma’s Peyton Ford (fifth) and Jacob Steinberg (14th) were all-state.

Congratulations to these individuals and teams on successful seasons.