Troxel leaves state swimming meet with mixed emotions

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- Jackson freshman Kyleigh Troxel left the St. Peters Rec-Plex late Saturday afternoon with both good and bad memories from the state swimming meet.

Troxel's bad memory comes from Friday night when she finished ninth in the preliminaries of the 500-yard freestyle. The top eight advanced to the championship finals Saturday.

But places nine through 16 from the prelims also swam Saturday in the consolation finals, and Troxel left with a memory of winning a race at the state meet. She had a season-best time of 5 minutes, 11.33 seconds in winning the event to place ninth overall.

"I was really hoping to get into the final finals," Troxel said. "That was a little disappointing since I was so close. But it was good to go out there and swim and win today."

Troxel said she usually does not get nervous before a meet. But that was not the case at state, especially Friday night. She said teammate Allison Hobbs tried to prepare her for what to expect.

"I didn't expect this many people," Troxel said. "It was really nerve-racking. It is the first time I have felt so nervous. And the competition was really, really good."

There was plenty for Indians fans to cheer about at the start of the 500 freestyle consolation race as Troxel and Hobbs were side by side in lanes 3 and 4. Hobbs, who swam a 5:13.85 in the prelims Friday night, finished 14th overall with a time of 5:18.44.

"I was a little disappointed in that I added 5 seconds today," said Hobbs, a junior who was competing at state for the third year in a row. "But the first day was good and hopefully I have one more year."

The first day was good for Hobbs as she set lifetime best marks in both the 500 and 200. Her 1:59.76 in the 200 was a half second away from advancing to Saturday.

"I finally broke 2 minutes," Hobbs said. "I have been trying to do that the entire year and it felt great to do it here."

Hobbs and Troxel also teamed with sophomores Shelby Kate McCord and Katie Garner with a season-best time of 3:56.42 in the 400 freestyle relay preliminaries Friday night.

"That was their best time by about 2 1/2 seconds," Jackson coach Carole Baugh said. "I thought it was a good tournament overall for us. It was a little disheartening with Kyleigh's ninth-place finish Friday. But she came back and gave it her all today. She got out ahead and really didn't have anybody pushing her or her time might have been even better. I thought both Kyleigh and Allison had real good days yesterday. Just to be here today is an accomplishment and we expect to be back next year."

Troxel and Hobbs were the only local swimmers to advance from Friday's prelims.

State meet results

Preliminaries

200 individual medley -- 26. Kyleigh Troxel (J) 2:17.78; 51. Anna Esswein (SV) 2:24.96

200 freestyle -- 20. Allison Hobbs (J) 1:59.76; 43. Morgan Morris (ND) 2:07.01

50 freestyle -- 36. Lauren Castleman (ND) 26.02

100 freestyle -- 32. Morris (ND) 57.26; 36. Lauren Castleman (ND) 57.41

500 freestyle -- 9. Troxel (J) 5:12.89; 11. Hobbs (J) 5:13.85

100 breaststroke -- 28. Esswein (SV) 1:13.78; 35. Lizzie Schmidt (C) 1:15.38

400 freestyle relay -- 31. Jackson (Troxel, Shelby Kate McCord, Katie Garner, Hobbs) 3:56.42

Finals

500 freestyle -- 9. Troxel (J) 5:11.33; 14. Hobbs (J) 5:18.44