Jackson girls swimmer Caitlyn Palmer finishes 8th, 15th at girls swimming championships

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- Caitlyn Palmer was upbeat in the face of what could have been bitter disappointment.

After a state championship and third-place finish as a junior, Palmer had high hopes going into her final season as a high school swimmer.

But a combination of factors led Palmer to finishes of eighth and 15th at the Missouri Girls Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

"Not exactly the way I wanted to end, but I can't change anything, so I've just got to be happy with what I did," Palmer said. "I'm not really upset with what happened. I've been battling sickness and I hurt my knee on Wednesday, so I'm actually pretty proud of the times I had."

Palmer was the feel-good story of last year's championships when she vaulted from an eighth-place seeding to a state title in the 50-yard freestyle. Any hopes of a repeat, though, were dashed in Friday's preliminaries when she had to settle for the 10th-best time and a spot in Saturday's consolation final.

"I was a little bit (disappointed) just because it's like 'Oh, you won last year and you can't even make the top eight,'" Palmer said.

Things didn't start smoothly on Saturday either, as Palmer slipped off the block in the 50 freestyle consolation final. The result was a time of 25.16 seconds and a 15th-place finish.

"I slipped right at the beginning and almost did a belly flop right into the water," she said. "So, the fact I went a 25.1 was like a really big deal. And the fact I didn't get 16th was a good thing. I slipped off the block and didn't get completely last."

The 50 freestyle was won by Parkway West senior Gabriela Vieira, who lived in Cape Girardeau until moving to St. Louis her freshman year.

"I'm ecstatic for Gabby," Palmer said. "I've been friends with her since I started swimming in 2007. It's amazing to see how much she's progressed."

After all of the swimmers took a short break, Palmer came right back and swam the championship heat of the next event, the 100 butterfly, an event where she also had the eighth seed last year and improved it to third.

She was seeded eighth again coming in this year, but this time, that's where she finished with a time of 58.30.

"I started out and thought I was doing great, but then the pain in my knee kicked in," Palmer said. "I'm still very pleased with that time because I trained more for the 50 this year. I didn't know I was going to do the fly until about two weeks ago when I realized how fast the 100 free was this year."

College is the next stop in Palmer's journey. She's still undecided on where to take that next step but has some ideas.

"I'm looking at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and I'm taking a trip there next month. UNO has been persistent about getting me to come up there, so we'll see," Palmer said. "The fact I didn't swim well here kind of upsets me because I know there are still colleges looking. Hopefully they overlook this meet and look at my good times."

What they will also see is a young woman who has made an indelible impression on the Indians swimming program and Jackson community as a whole.

"Even though she's a senior and getting ready to leave, she's left her mark on the freshmen and underclassmen to show them what it's like to go to state and be a champion," Jackson first-year coach Kaley Childers said. "All around, Caitlyn is an awesome person. I've actually known her for a long time.

"It's been awesome to watch her progress over the years and just see how far she's come, not only as a swimmer, but as an adult going into her college career."

Team scores -- 1. Rock Bridge 260; 2. Lafayette (Wildwood) 236; 3. Park Hill South 222; 4. Parkway West 177; 5. Hickman 154; 6. Marquette 141; 7. Glendale 130; 8. Kirkwood 86; 9. Summit Prep 76; 10. Francis Howell 75; 11. Parkway Central 74; 12. John Burroughs 67; 13. Park Hill 56; 14. Eureka 52; 15. Kickapoo 50; 16. Blue Springs South 37; 17. Webster Groves 28; 17. Poplar Bluff 28; 19. Visitation Academy 27; 19. Marshall 27; 21. MICDS 25; 22. Westminster Christian Academy 22; 23. Ladue 21; 23. Staley 21; 25. St. Joseph's Academy 19; 26. Ozark 18; 27. Central (St. Joseph) 16; 27. St. Charles 16; 29. Blue Springs 15; 30. Hazelwood West 13; 30. Lindbergh 13; 30. Jackson 13; 33. Nixa 12; 33. Cor Jesu Academy 12; 35. Raytown 11; 36. Lee's Summit West 10; 38. Clayton 7; 38. Kearney 7; 40. Timberland 6; 40. Pembroke Hill 6; 40. Ft. Zumwalt North 6; 43. No Kansas City 5; 43. Oak Park 5; 45. Notre Dame de Sion 4; 46. Lamar 3; 47. Lee's Summit 2; 48. Platte County 1; 48. St. Dominic 1

Local finishers

200 freestyle -- 25. Elizabeth Kiefner (SL) 1:59.74; 28. Faith Littleton (J) 2:00.76

200 individual medley -- 33. Josey Powell (CC) 2:17.71

50 freestyle -- 15. Caitlyn Palmer (J) 25.16; 33. Allison McDonald (CC) 25.45

1-meter diving -- 23. Sydney Deneke (J) 147.70

100 butterfly -- 8. Caitlyn Palmer (J) 58.30; 27. Elizabeth Kiefner (SL) 1:01.25

500 freestyle -- 23. Josey Powell (CC) 5:28.37; 26. Faith Littleton (J) 5:30.12

200 freestyle relay -- 28. Cape Central (Allison McDonald, Molly Phegley, Olivia Priest, Josey Powell) 1:46.19

100 backstroke -- 18. Madison Heisserer (ND) 1:01.44