Mules placed third at Zizzer Swim Invitational; Cross country competes at Jackson Invitational

In the midst of a heat wave, the Poplar Bluff High School varsity swim team kept cool over the weekend with a few laps around the pool.

The Poplar Bluff Mules traveled to West Plains, MO, on Saturday for the Zizzer Swim Invitational, where they competed against many teams throughout the area. The Mules placed third overall and brought home a few team awards.

As a warm-up until their first official swim meet, the head coach Kyler Sowell said he was proud of how the team competed.

“They did really well,” Sowell said. “They competed hard despite the heat. We were able to get in all relays and state cuts for their first meet of the season, so that was awesome. I think we have some areas we can improve on, but we’re headed in the right direction.”

Sowell said the swim team pulled up their times from last year and stayed consistent with their ending temps from the previous season. Overall, he’s seen nothing but improvement.

The Mules finished the invitational with the top eight individual event finishes and the top three in the relay finishes. They captured second overall in the Boys 200 Medley Relay. Included with the team were Cyrus Sagharichi, Owen McDaniel, Henry Duncan and Carson Todd.

The Mules placed third overall in the Boys 200 Freestyle Relay with the team of Todd, Sagharichi, Duncan and Teagan Kassing. During the individual competition, McDaniel placed third in the 100 Breaststroke, Todd placed third in the 100 Freestyle and Connor Wiggs placed fourth in the 400 Freestyle.

“It was great to see them medal at their first sight of competition of the season,” Sowell said. “The fact that they were able to PR that much, even from their slowest times last year, was awesome. There were some good swim teams there that will we see later this season and even a few more schools drove down from Kansas City. Having all those different teams there and still being able to place high is quite an accomplishment for us.”

The Mules first official game will be on the road against Jackson High School Thursday at 3 p.m.

“It's going to be a good one,” he said. “Jackson is one of those teams that will always give us a run for our money in the conference. We’ll see them twice this season, so being able to compare our matches will be something that we're going to look forward to and see where we're at now to where we're going to end.”

Cross country

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The Mules cross country team competed in the Jackson Invitational, and the top 25 in each class division medaled.

Out of the freshmen team, Marley Spain placed 11th and Elijah Frost finished 18th. The Sophomore girls team finished third overall, with Wren Cotrell placing second, Kate Scott 12th and Ava Stotts 13th.

The senior boys team finished seventh overall, with Nick Spain placing 15th and Parker Hicks 21st.

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The Mules cross-country team will be back in action to host the Barry Cody Bootheel Classic on Thursday at Ozark Ridge Golf Course at 4 p.m.