Poplar Bluff girls swimming dominates meet, claims first Show-Me Conference Championship

Winning the program's first conference meet wasn't what surprised Poplar Bluff girls swimming coach Beth Lewis-Muse on Thursday.

It was how the Mules did it that left her in a state of disbelief.

Poplar Bluff won nine of the 12 events and captured 526 points, finishing 100 points ahead of second-place Cape Central at the Show Me Conference Championship at the Central Municipal Pool.

A tearful and joyful Lewis-Muse collected herself and made sense of her emotion by reflecting on the past.

"When I came into the program, it felt like it was real delicate, and we were real small," Lewis-Muse said. "Just to see it the last few years, how much it's grown. ... You sit over on the side at that coaches' table, and you always wish that you could get that title, wish that you could be like the rest of those teams. It's really neat that we finally got one."

Cape Central's Maggie Boxdorfer warms up before her race at the Show-Me Conference meet Thursday at the Central Municipal Pool.Glenn Landberg

Sophomore Taylor Norwood led the way for the Mules, finishing with individual victories in the 100 butterfly (57.31) and the 200 individual medley (2:09.15), both of which were meet records. Norwood was named the meet's most valuable swimmer for the second year in a row, but she was more interested in the team title.

"I'm overwhelmed at how good we did as a team," Norwood said. "We've never won conference as a team. This is just amazing for all of us, and it's just been such a good year. And state's going to be even better."

Lewis-Muse said she remembers watching the Tigers take home the conference championship a year ago without placing first in a single event. The Mules took that approach a step further and secured a decisive victory with solid performances in the second heat of many of the events.

"It really hit us hard that it's your middlemen, it's your 8-16 points that really get you," Lewis-Muse said. "I think we had the same setup as they did last year where we had a lot of seniors. ... We had a larger group of middlemen for us, and it helped us out with points."

Central finished with 426 points, followed by Notre Dame (361) in third and Jackson (279) in fourth. Farmington (137), Perryville (73) and Saxony Lutheran (60) rounded out the team standings.

Poplar Bluff won all three relays, including the 200 freestyle relay -- Morgan McAtee, Raegan McAtee, Kaylee Harris and Norwood set a meet record with a time of 1:42.81.

"I have seen Beth progressively building and building and building," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "When we went down there last year, I looked at the JV heats, and I thought, 'Oh my goodness.' I've just seen what's coming, and she's really building that. I saw really a total team effort from Poplar Bluff. They not only were already there at the cuts, but they exceeded that."

Norwood, Morgan McAtee, Lexi Vaughn and Haylee Dragon got things started for the Mules, taking first in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:57.38. Poplar Bluff concluded the meet with a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:51.10), a team consisting of Lily Soeter, Dragon, Harris and Raegan McAtee.

Jackson's Libby Brakhane competes in the backstroke leg of the 200-yard individual medley during the Show-Me Conference meet.

The Tigers were led by senior Josey Powell, who captured first in the 500 freestyle with a state-qualifying time of 5:21.21. Jackson freshman Faith Littleton also qualified for state, finishing second in 5:26.14.

Powell also had a state cut in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.44), finishing second behind Morgan McAtee, a junior who set a meet record with a time of 1:08.88.

"It was a good night for her because last year she had two cuts. This year she has three cuts with her relay, and we hope maybe to get one more relay tomorrow," coach Powell said about her daughter's performance. "We're going to swim again, and just see if maybe we can get that last relay in."

Central will compete in one final meet today with hopes of sending several more swimmers to next weekend's state meet. Coach Powell said she had a number of swimmers step up.

"We were watching those races, we're dropping 7-10 seconds," she said. "I knew it might be tough for us to win, and I told them, 'Let's not define our season on getting that trophy back. Let's define it by how well we show up and swim.' They answered that. ... We had girls that weren't in the fast heat but the heat before that who got bumped up into that medal, and they were just so excited."

Allison McDonald, Ally Vaughn and Shelby Powers were several of the swimmers that Powell identified as standouts on the day. The coach was also complimentary of first-year diver Kyra Pearl, who took third in the 1-meter diving, an event in which Jackson senior Sydney Deneke set a new meet record (406.80). Notre Dame's Carly Pujol finished second (287.55).

Crusaders senior Elizabeth Kiefner took first in the 200 freestyle with a state-qualifying time of 1:58.58, while Littleton also secured a state cut with a second-place time of 2:00.67. Kiefner also qualified for state with a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly (1:00.65).

Jackson senior Caitlyn Palmer, the defending state champion in the 50 freestyle, came away with a pair of second-place finishes. She had a state cut in the 100 butterfly (59.35) and finished second in the 100 freestyle (56.31).

Raegan McAtee, a freshman, notched a pair of individual wins for the Mules. She took first in the 100 backstroke (1:03.85) and qualified for state with a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle (55.31). The sophomore Harris won the 50 freestyle with a state-qualifying time of 25.78.

Lewis-Muse said she plans on going back to the drawing board to decide how she intends to position her swimmers at next weekend's state meet.

"It's a good problem to have," Lewis-Muse said. "We're just thankful that we had that AAU group finally come up, and it all worked together. ... There was a lot of emotion and adrenaline coming from the girls."

Team scores -- 1. Poplar Bluff 526; 2. Cape Central 426; 3. Notre Dame 361; 4. Jackson 279; 5. Farmington 137; 6. Perryville 73; 7. Saxony Lutheran 60

Top three finishers

200 medley relay -- 1. Poplar Bluff (Taylor Norwood, Morgan McAtee, Lexi Vaughn, Haylee Dragon) 1:57.38; 2. Jackson (Kali Norrick, Hannah Summers, Caitlyn Palmer, Faith Littleton) 2:01.13; 3. Notre Dame (Madison Heisserer, Allie Pujol, Caroline Schott, Angelica Rubi) 2:04.50

200 freestyle -- 1. Elizabeth Kiefner (SL) 1:58.58; 2. Faith Littleton (J) 2:00.67; 3. Madison Heisserer (ND) 2:03.04

200 individual medley -- 1. Taylor Norwood (PB) 2:09.15; 2. Allison McDonald (CC) 2:20.22; 3. Angelica Rubi (ND) 2:35.79

50 freestyle -- 1. Kaylee Harris (PB) 25.78; 2. Caroline Schott (ND) 26:06; 3. Hannah Summers (J) 26.61

1-meter diving -- 1. Sydney Deneke (J) 406.80; 2. Carly Pujol (ND) 287.55; 3. Kyra Pearl (CC) 253.40

100 butterfly -- 1. Taylor Norwood (PB) 57.31; 2. Caitlyn Palmer (J) 59.35; 3. Elizabeth Kiefner (SL) 1:00.65

100 freestyle -- 1. Raegan McAtee (PB) 55:31; 2. Caitlyn Palmer (J) 56.31; 3. Caroline Schott (ND) 56.81

500 freestyle -- 1. Josey Powell (CC) 5:21.21; 2. Faith Littleton (J) 5:26.14; 3. Jacie Pujol (ND) 6:04.83

200 freestyle relay -- 1. Poplar Bluff (Morgan McAtee, Raegan McAtee, Kaylee Harris, Taylor Norwood) 1:42.81; 2. Cape Central (Josey Powell, Molly Phegley, Olivia Priest, Allison McDonald) 1:45.84; 3. Jackson (Hannah Summers, Kali Norrick, Faith Littleton, Caitlyn Palmer) 1:50.28

100 backstroke -- 1. Raegan McAtee (PB) 1:03.85; 2. Lily Soeter (PB) 1:04.39; 3. Molly Phegley (CC) 1:12.13

100 breaststroke -- 1. Morgan McAtee (PB) 1:08.88; 2. Josey Powell (CC) 1:12.44; 3. Hannah Summers (J) 1:15.40

400 freestyle relay -- 1. Poplar Bluff (Lily Soeter, Haylee Dragon, Kaylee Harris, Raegan McAtee) 3:51.10; 2. Cape Central (Allison McDonald, Molly Phegley, Olivia Priest, Josey Powell) 3:57.80; 3. Notre Dame (Caroline Schott, Jacie Pujol, Angelica Rubi, Madison Heisserer) 4:01.62