Cape Central boys swimming team on a mission at state

Aside from a freshman who had a pair of all-state finishes, the Cape Central boys swimming team wasn't satisfied with the outcome at last year's state meet.

The Tigers ended their season with a 14th-place finish in the team standings, but none of that matters to this year's eight swimmers, who will represent Central in nine of the 12 events.

These Tigers are on a mission.

"We have some high expectations," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "We haven't taken a team quite like this to state in a long time."

Powell has been the only coach of a program that's existed for 26 years, and although the Tigers have had several teams finish in the top 10 at state, they've have never claimed a trophy, which is awarded to each of the top four teams.

The state meet begins with preliminaries Friday at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Missouri, followed by finals and consolations Saturday. Schools like Rock Bridge, Hickman, defending state champion Rockhurst, Lafayette (Wildwood) and Eureka headline this year's meet.

But then there's Central.

Powell believes her team is still a year removed from heading to state with legitimate aspirations of winning a title but said she doesn't want her team to wait around for next season.

"There aren't a lot of teams that are walking through the doors at state with the kind of talent that we're bringing," Powell said. "... The joy in this group is they love the head-to-head racing, and I think if they just go up there this weekend and can focus on getting to the wall first or staying with the fastest guy or beating the fastest guy, I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

Cape Central coach Dayna Powell congratulates Brogan Davis on a win during the Show-Me Conference meet Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015 at the Central Municipal Pool. (Glenn Landberg)

The Tigers have no one with higher expectations than sophomore Brogan Davis, who's the first swimmer in school history to qualify for state in all eight individual swimming events. He set a meet record in both the 200-meter individual medley (1 minute, 56.51 seconds) and 100 butterfly (50.83) at last week's Show-Me Conference meet, earning him the honor of Most Valuable Swimmer.

"He's definitely a competitor, and he wants to get to the wall first," Powell said about Davis, who enters this weekend's meet with the top state cut in the 100 butterfly (50.26) and also will be competing in the 100 backstroke. "Watching him swim is so much fun because he's solid in all the events."

As a freshman last season, Davis was named the Semoball Awards Boys Swimmer of the Year after nabbing a pair of all-state finishes, placing fourth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.07 seconds and second in the 100 butterfly (51.44).

"I'm definitely going back for revenge in that fly. ... I'm really excited to see what happens there. I'm just hoping to win," said Davis, who's seeded first ahead of last year's state champion, AJ Iseman of Rockhurst High School. "It completely changed my whole training perspective. Everything I do in practice is aimed toward that race."

Sophomore Sam Hahs also will be looking to redeem himself this weekend.

Hahs finished 23rd and 27th in the 100 breaststroke and 500 freestyle, respectively, at last season's state meet but had an impressive summer with River City Aquatics (RCA), led by coach Jason Cravens. RCA provides swimmers the opportunity to continue to improve at meets during the summer and is the largest competitive swim team in Southeast Missouri, offering professional coaching for swimmers of all ages.

Cape Central High School State swimming qualifiers. Front row - Brogan Davis, John Young, Davis Deimund and Miles Frazier. Back row - Reagan Ragsdale, Sam Hahs, Reed Dickson and Hyrum Dickson. (Glenn Landberg)

Each of the Tigers' top three swimmers -- Hahs, Davis and junior Reagan Ragsdale -- are members of RCA, and Powell said she was surprised by the strides each of them took over the summer in such a brief amount of time.

"What they did this summer was amazing," Powell said. "I knew [Cravens] would have an impact. I didn't think it would be in six months, and it was."

Hahs jumped out to a great start during the summer season with RCA, winning the High Point Award in the 13-14 age division at the second meet of the season with first-place finishes in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. He also had a National Club Swimming Association Junior National qualifying time in the 200 breaststroke.

"He swam so much faster this summer than he did all last year, and that's why I know the training he's had since January has made a big difference," Powell said about Hahs, who will compete this weekend in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley. "I think if he feels good this weekend, he's going to have some amazing swims also."

Hahs suffered a stress fracture in his lower back that hindered the latter half of his season, but he was encouraged by his first-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.90) and 500 freestyle (5:03.92) at the conference meet.

"It's getting there. I'm feeling a lot more confident than I was a week ago," said Hahs, who hopes to place in the top three of his individual events at state. "I still have a few more days of practice, and I'm hoping with that, I can get a little stronger and hopefully feel better by the time state rolls around."

Davis and Hahs have also done their part to raise interest in swimming throughout the school. Central has 22 swimmers on this year's squad, which Powell mostly attributes to the efforts of her sophomore standouts.

"People want to be where some people have that attitude and can do those things. That draws people in," Powell said. "We went from a team of 13 in Brogan and Sam's freshman year, and they've brought in nine freshmen with them."

Fans and fellow swimmers cheer on Notre Dame's Bruce Ha and Cape Central's Layton Hamby in the first heat of the 200 yard freestyle Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015 at the Central Municipal Pool. (Glenn Landberg)

Ragsdale has also given the Tigers a boost this season after transferring from Farmington. He specializes in freestyle events, but Powell said she's seen a lot of improvement from his strokes.

"He's really, at least from when I saw him last spring, become a really versatile swimmer," Powell said about Ragsdale, who will compete this weekend in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. "I think he's going in fifth on the 100 freestyle, and that's a good place to be. We've kind of kept Reagan out of those events toward the end of the season just to make him a little bit more hungry for those.

"I'm very optimistic. I think he's just now figuring out how fast he can go, and if all that comes together this weekend, it's going to be great fun."

Central got perhaps its biggest surprise at the conference meet when senior John Young qualified for state in both the 50 freestyle (22.74) and 100 freestyle (50.26).

Young will join Davis, Hahs and Ragsdale in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, and Powell has high hopes for a group that has four swimmers who will each be competing in two individual events.

"When we saw John hit that 50 free cut, that makes a huge difference in our relay at state because he'll not only have confidence, but he'll be bringing in a lot more speed than he had at the first of the year," Powell said. "It couldn't really have been any better because now we'll optimistically be able to drop five to seven seconds in our 400 free relay if we all feel good on Friday.

"Hopefully that'll get us in that all-state area. I want to bring home a lot of all-state athletes on Saturday."

The Tigers also will be represented in the 200 freestyle relay, a team consisting of senior Davis Deimund, senior Reed Dickson, sophomore Miles Frazier and freshman Hryum Dickson, while Jackson's Jack Gard will compete in the 500 freestyle.

Central also has received a tremendous amount of support and encouragement from the community, and while expectations are high, there's a sense of excitement conveyed from each member of the team.

The Tigers know they can make some noise. Now they're just out to prove it.

"I think we're going to be a lot more confident this year," Powell said. "We've been to state before and other meets, and people are like, 'There's so-and-so. There's so-and-so.' When we walk in, we're going to have some of those swimmers that people are going, 'Hey, look. There's Brogan. There's Sam. There's Reagan.' That builds a little confidence.

"There's a ready room they go to before finals on Saturday, and it can be a little intimidating. John said, 'Man, I don't like that ready room,' and I said, 'Well, I think you're going to like it this year.'"