A large group of experienced swimmers will lead the way for the Joplin Eagles this winter.
As the 2021-22 season arrives, the Eagles feature nine girls with prior varsity experience.
Joplin’s returning letterwinners are seniors Allie Lawrence and Sophia Schwartz and juniors Taegen Smith, Lily Rakes, Mairi Beranek, Megan Walser, Brooklyn Hiller, Allysun Higdon and Skyler Ridgway.
Other juniors on the roster are Abigail Edwards, Abby Hembree and Emma Langer.
Langer is a newcomer to watch.
“We are happy to gain Emma Langer from Germany,” Joplin coach Juliana Hughes said. “Based on her time trials, Emma should be able to join the varsity relays with Mairi Beranek, Lily Rakes, Allie Lawrence, Sophia Schwartz, Taegen Smith and Brooklyn Hiller.”
Lawrence, Beranek and Smith swam on last year’s 200-yard medley relay team that finished fourth at the conference meet, while Lawrence and Schwartz were on the 200 freestyle relay team that finished sixth.
Rakes, Schwartz and Beranek were on the 400 freestyle relay team that finished sixth in the COC.
Also at last year’s conference meet, Beranek finished ninth in the 100 backstroke, Smith was ninth in the 100 breaststroke, while Walser and Rakes were 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 500 freestyle.
The Eagles have 20 girls on this year’s roster.
There are four sophomores on the roster—Avery Bermudez, Raelin Calderon, Lanee Goodwin and Emma Marshall. There are also four freshmen out for the sport this winter—Jionna Leonetti-Houchin, Evelyn Watson, Gwen Zamanzadeh and Izzy Zamanzadeh.
“We are excited to see the new members of our team compete and see where they excel the best,” Hughes said. “We have already seen so many new swimmers progress and drop time just two weeks into practice.”
Joplin will open the season on Dec. 2 at Carthage.
