Jackson ends ND's reign at Show Me Conference meet

Notre Dame's four-year reign as conference swimming champions is over.

The Jackson Indians left no doubt about who is the best team in 2011.

Jackson won eight of the 11 first-place medals during the swimming portion of Friday's Show Me Conference meet en route to a dominating performance.

"It was nice to come in and win this meet," Jackson coach Carol Baugh said. "It really was. We knew last year that we had a lot of talent that was returning and we could be stronger this year. The girls have worked really hard and they're really excited about taking the conference meet. It's one of the things they look forward to. ... We knew we had some stronger swimmers for today, so it wasn't a real big surprise, but it was really nice. We didn't win every event, but it was nice to take what we did."

Added Jackson senior Allison Hobbs: "It feels great. Finally we get one. It's just an awesome feeling."

Jackson's Katie Garner swims the 100-yard butterfly Friday during the Show Me Conference meet at Central Municipal Pool. (Fred Lynch)

The Indians got off to a perfect start by winning the opening three events.

The relay team of Katie Garner, Kyleigh Troxel, Jeanette Powell and Allison Hobbs edged Central to take first in the 200 medley relay, and freshman Morgan Maquire followed that with a victory in the 200 freestyle.

"These girls have been doing so good this year," Troxel said. "They've been working hard all season and they've just really shown the effort."

Troxel put on a solid performance herself. She captured first in the 200 individual medley, narrowly beating Central's Lizzie Schmidt in the third event.

Notre Dame and Central finally got on the victory board in the fourth and fifth events. The Bulldogs' Morgan Morris took first in the 50 freestyle, while Schmidt pulled away in the 100 butterfly.

Central's Hillary Caldwell swims the 100-yard backstroke Friday during the Show Me Conference meet at Central Municipal Pool. (Fred Lynch)

The rest of the way it was all Jackson.

Shelby McCord, another freshman for the Indians, survived a late push from St. Vincent's Natalie King to capture first in the 100 freestyle.

The following event was the highlight of the meet.

Troxel and Hobbs squared off in a photo finish 500 freestyle.

The teammates were neck-and-neck the entire event but Troxel edged Hobbs by five-hundredths of a second at the end.

St. Vincent's Olivia Robinson swims the 100-yard butterfly Friday during the Show Me Conference meet at Central Municipal Pool.

"That was really fun," Troxel said. "I was so nervous when I swam though because me and her are always neck-and-neck in the 500 and I was really surprised I actually won that event."

The Indians team of McCord, Garner, Maquire and Powell captured first in the 200 freestyle relay before Hobbs broke the only meet record of the day by touching the wall in 1 minute, 4.40 seconds in the 100 backstroke.

"It was very exciting for me," Hobbs said. "And I think everyone on the team was when we finally knocked Brittany Menz off that record."

Central nabbed one last victory. This time it was freshman Maddie Siefert in the 100 breaststroke before Jackson captured the final relay.

"We just have a great team this year overall," Hobbs said. "Not just all of us that have qualified for state and that are on those state relays but overall everyone has put in their little piece to make this team what it is."

St. Vincent's Anna Esswein swims the 100-yard breaststroke during the Show Me Conference meet Friday at Central Municipal Pool.

Added Troxel: "There's always a little rivalry between us and Notre Dame and us and Cape so it's always exciting to win."

The two teammates are the main reason for it.

"They're leaders in the water and everybody looks up to them," Baugh said about Hobbs and Troxel. "And they're dedicated to the sport, no doubt. To perform the way they do, you have to be dedicated to the sport, and I think that this second season coming in I have seen others that have seen success that have wanted to dedicate more and more to swimming, which I'm really happy about."

Results

Team scores -- Jackson 493; Notre Dame 396; Central 356; Poplar Bluff 209; Saxony Lutheran 206; St. Vincent 167; Perryville 92

Jackson's Kyleigh Troxel swims a leg of the 200-yard medley relay in the Show Me Conference Championship Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 at Central Municipal Pool. (Fred Lynch)

200 medley relay -- 1. Jackson (Katie Garner, Kyleigh Troxel, Jeanette Powell, Allison Hobbs), 2:03.80; 2. Central, 2:06.63; 3. Notre Dame, 2:14.45; 4. St. Vincent, 2:20.32; 5. Saxony Lutheran, 2:20.56; 6. Poplar Bluff, 2:36.59; 7. Perryville, 2:39.87

200 freestyle -- 1. Morgan Maguire, J, 2:04.83; 2. Natalie King, St. V, 2:07.37; 3. Maddie Siefert, C, 2:08.92; 4. Shelby McCord, J, 2:12.48; 5. Katie Schweiss, SL, 2:23.57; 6. Sarah Crites, PB, 2:26.08; 7. Kate Bohn, ND, 2:28.83; 8. Natalie Brewer, ND, 2:30.05

200 individual medley -- 1. Troxel, J, 2:19.24; 2. Lizzie Schmidt, C, 2:20.02; 3. Mandy Whitlow, J, 2:44.28; 4. Shelby Ray, ND, 2:45.64; 5. Eva Schaefer, ND, 2:49.07; 6. Madison Rau, SL, 2:49.44; 7. Mary-Liz Klueppel, ND, 2:51.45; 8. Taylor Coe, SL, 2:55.45

50 freestyle -- 1. Morgan Morris, ND, 26.30; 2. Julia Dragon, PB, 27.43; 3. Anna Esswein, SV, 27.71; 4. Powell, J, 28.08; 5. Campbell Keele, PB, 29.08; 6. Josie Young, C, 29.51; 7. Lucy Gage, SL, 29.72; 8. Sydney Ozbun, C, 29.99

Diving -- 1. Claire Gillard, J, 373.10; 2. Chleo LeGrand, C, 366.85; 3. Paige Buhler, P, 298.85; 4. Hannah Wiggs, C, 222.75

100 butterfly -- 1. Schmidt, C, 1:03.74; 2. Garner, J, 1:06.54; 3. Maguire, J, 1:11.93; 4. Whitney Dittmer, J, 1:23.37; 5. Shelby Lambert, J, 1:25.30; 6. Jessica Pfau, ND, 1:27.06; 7. Polly Shantz, C, 1:27.11; 8. Mary K Montgomery, ND, 1:28.13

100 freestyle -- 1. McCord, J, 58.88; 2. King, SV, 59.56; 3. Dragon, PB, 1:00.86; 4. Powell, J, 1:01.31; 5. Taylor Nolan, J, 1:03.99; 6. Bohn, ND, 1:05.38; 7. Gage, SL, 1:05.67; 8. Ozbun, C, 1:07.64

500 freestyle -- 1. Troxel, J, 5:15.97; 2. Hobbs, J, 5:16.02; 3. Morris, ND, 5:29.58; 4. Ray, ND, 6:21.00; 5. Schweiss, SL, 6:33.13; 6. Crites, PB, 6:38.08; 7. Molly Kinder, C, 6:48.20; 8. Keira Soutar, ND, 7:01.50

200 freestyle relay -- 1. Jackson (McCord, Garner, Maguire, Powell), 1:52.92; 2. Central, 1:57.70; 3. Poplar Bluff, 2:00.16; 4. Notre Dame, 2:02.64; 5. St. Vincent, 2:08.28; 6. Saxony Lutheran, 2:13.58; 7. Perryville, 2:21.47

100 backstroke -- 1. Hobbs, J, 1:04.40; 2. LeGrand, C, 1:10.21; 3. Garner, J, 1:11.15; 4. Schafer, ND, 1:13.39; 5. Rau, SL, 1:14.18; 6. Brewer, ND, 1:17.34; 7. Nolan, J, 1:18.87; 8. Hillary Caldwell, C, 1:22.59

100 breaststroke -- 1. Siefert, C, 1:13.76; 2. Esswein, SV, 1:15.17; 3. Whitlow, J, 1:22.20; 4. Klueppel, ND, 1:24.97; 5. Sarah Mittrucker, ND, 1:25.29; 6. Meredith Caldwell, C, 1:28.12; 7. Kristina Baker, PB, 1:28.96; 8. Coe, SL, 1:29.54

400 freestyle relay -- 1. Jackson (Hobbs, Maguire, McCord, Troxel), 4:03.04; 2. Notre Dame, 4:12.19; 3. Central, 4:20.24; 4. Poplar Bluff, 4:42.76; 5. Saxony Lutheran, 4:51.85; 6. St. Vincent, 5:58.38