Jackson senior Caitlyn Palmer returns to defend her crown at girls swimming state meet

The defending state champion in the 50-yard freestyle is back and perhaps more ready than ever before.

Senior Caitlyn Palmer made school history last season when she became the first Jackson swimmer to be crowned a state champion, entering the 50 freestyle as an eighth seed and winning the event with a time of 24.09 seconds.

Palmer will be joined by eight other swimmers from around the area at the Missouri State Girls Swimming and Diving Championships, which begin with preliminaries today and wrap up with finals Saturday at the City of St. Peters Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Missouri.

"I know she feels the pressure of trying to redeem her title, but it's exciting, too, just to know that we have her and to know that whatever happens, she's still an outstanding swimmer," Jackson coach Kaley Childers said. "... She has really high hopes for herself. Everyone has high hopes for her, but we're just hoping that whatever happens happens. No matter what, we're coming out of it with a positive attitude."

Palmer also returns to compete in the 100 butterfly, an event she entered as an eighth seed a year ago and finished third with a time of 57.31.

Illness has been a setback for Palmer this season, but Childers has been inspired by her standout swimmer's ability to overcome.

"She's been working her butt off to get there," Childers said. "I'm just proud of her for all the hard work that she's actually put in. I know it's hard to be sick and get out there for practice to work as hard as you can every day, but she's done it."

Palmer will be joined by senior teammate Sydney Deneke, who will compete in the 1-meter diving after setting a new meet record (406.80) in the event at last week's Show Me Conference Championship.

Deneke is also an accomplished gymnast with national distinction, and Childers believes those skills have heavily contributed to her diving ability.

"She's never actually had that full-on dive coach before, so it's amazing just to see her progress from where she has gotten by learning and teaching herself so many new things to now having a dive coach," Childers said. "... Her dives are so beautiful just to watch. She's incredible."

The Indians will also be represented by freshman Faith Littleton, a distance swimmer who qualified in the 500 freestyle and 200 freestyle.

From the first day of practice to now, Childers said Littleton has improved her 500 freestyle time by 20 seconds. She took second in the event with a time of 5:26.14 at last week's conference meet, finishing just behind Cape Central senior Josey Powell, who will also compete in the event at state.

"Going into the season, we knew she was going to be an awesome swimmer," Childers said. "We were not expecting state out of her this year. ... She's got a strong head on her shoulders. She's just determined."

Childers is in her first season as the Indians' swimming coach. She was an assistant coach at Central last season, giving her plenty of familiarity with Jackson's pool of talent.

"We've all worked very well together this season," said Childers, who replaced former coach Carole Baugh. "We've actually become more like a family. We all get along very well. We work together as a team, and I'm very pleased to see how this season has come.

"With every team, there are challenges and difficult times and hardships, but I'm very pleased with how this team has come together and how well we've all given and taken a little."

Central sends four swimmers -- Powell, junior Olivia Priest, freshman Molly Phegley and freshman Allison McDonald -- to compete in the 200 freestyle relay. Along with the 500 freestyle, Powell also qualified in the 200 individual medley, while McDonald qualified in the 50 freestyle.

Senior Madison Heisserer represents Notre Dame in the 100 backstroke, and senior Elizabeth Kiefner represents Saxony Lutheran in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Kiefer was crowned conference champion a week ago in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.58.