CENTRAL'S OWEN SWIMS TO 2 SECONDS AT STATE

ST. PETERS -- Cape Girardeau Central High junior Jason Owen placed second in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyle races in the Missouri boys swimming and diving championships at the RecPlex in St. Peters Saturday afternoon.

Central's Eric Yount, a junior, finished 10th in the 50 freestyle and senior Nick Sterrett placed 22nd in 1-meter diving.

The Tigers placed 14th among 54 teams. Marquette won the meet, followed by Hickman of Columbia and Chaminade.

Owen was seeded second entering the finals in both of his races. He swam career bests in both -- a 1:44.61 in the 200 and a 4:41.70 in the 500.

Yount was seeded seventh in his race. He swam a :22.53.

"Fourteenth was a little better than we thought we would get with only two swimmers in the finals," said Central coach Dayna Powell. "When we swim our best times, I can't complain."

Powell said she is already looking forward to next season, when this year's host of juniors will be seniors.

"I'm already looking forward to the fun we're going to have next year," she said. "This meet gave us some experience for next year."