Senior Day: Lady Mules falls to West Plains

It was a joyous occasion for the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules on Tuesday at the Black River Coliseum as the swimming and diving team honored their seniors before their swim meet.

Before going head-to-head against West Plains, the Lady Mules took some time to put the spotlight on their senior swimmers. Though the Lady Mules fell to West Plains with a combined team score of 116-54, there were still smiles with family and friends in attendance.

The honorees included Madelyn Gillihan, Ava Richardson, Savannah Hanner, Rebecca Stevens and Addison Shell.

Shell has been with the Lady Mules swimming and diving team for all four years. She’s been enjoying her senior season so far, and she’s seen a lot of growth from where she first started as a freshman.

“It’s super sentimental for me because I’m a four-year senior,” Shell said. “I’ve been with this team a long time and had the most amazing time with this team. The girls are always super uplifting and super positive. It’s really fun knowing they’re kind of all supporting me tonight.

“The season has been going pretty well. We’ve been building on what we’ve learned in past years, and we got a lot of new girls this year. All the seniors stepped up this season by teaching them and showing them the ropes. We’ve been working on building the program up for future years.”

Shell said she’s seen a lot of growth in her confidence, and every time she steps in the pool, her ultimate goal is to do her best.

Fellow senior Rebecca Stevens said the team has shown much improvement throughout the season and is proud of how the younger girls have worked hard to get them to this point.

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot since I first started,” Stevens said. “It was definitely a challenge my sophomore year, but it’s gotten more fun and much easier every year. I’m definitely going to miss the people and the coaches. It’s been a great time, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot from it.”

Though things are flowing in the right direction for the Lady Mules, head swim coach Beth Lewis said it’s been a journey teaching the newcomers. She said it was a rough start for the Lady Mules, but everyone has slowly picked up the technique of being a swimmer.

Most of the team consists of fairly new swimmers, but Lewis said everything is starting to come together.

“Things were tough for us initially, but they’re really starting to pick up and understand the importance of technique and paying attention to every little detail,” Lewis said. “Overall, everyone is coming along at the right moment. At first, it was like trying to cram six or seven years of fundamentals in three weeks, but I can honestly say that it was a good accomplishment to make that happen. We can now rotate everybody through the lineup, which is great for us. We’re excited about the next few meets, taking it one match at a time.”

Lewis said it’s been great watching her seniors grow into good swimmers. She said they’ve done well with cutting times, and the entire group has been full of surprises throughout the season.

“One thing that I’m happy with this group of seniors is that they’re all great friends,” Lewis said. “They all have great personalities and have worked extremely hard every season, so this is definitely a great senior group to have.”

Top-3 finishes

200 Medley Relay: Gregory, Richardson, Willis, Scott (2nd) (CSC)

200 Freestyle: Lily Gregory (2nd)

50 Freestyle: Kinsley GIbbs (3rd)

100 Butterfly: Keira Willis (3rd)

100 Freestyle: Kate Scott (1st), Maclaren Moore (3rd)

200 Freestyle Relay: Balz, Moore, Richardson, Brown (2nd) (CSC)

100 Backstroke: Kate Scott (3rd)

400 Freestyle Relay: Willis, Gibbs, Scott, Gregory (2nd) (CSC)

CSC — Consideration State Cut