WEBB CITY, Mo. — Shawn Klosterman called it a great night.
It would be hard to argue with the veteran coach’s assessment.
With a solid overall showing, Klosterman’s Webb City boys swimming and diving team repeated as Central Ozark Conference champions on Tuesday night at the Buck Miner Swim Center.
Webb City finished on top of the team standings with 307 points. Carthage was second with 226, while Ozark was third (201) and Joplin was fourth (178). Nixa (144) and Republic (65) rounded out the team standings.
“Pulling off the repeat feels really good,” Klosterman said. “I was a little nervous because only one of our divers got to compete today. That’s usually a big event for us. And you never know if your swimmers are on that day until you see the first race. Our guys lit it up in that first race and I knew the rest of the meet would go well. It was an inspired night. Everybody mattered tonight for us. It was just a great night.”
The Cardinals recorded a top-three finish in 10 of 12 events, including four first-place showings.
“It was awesome to see some lifetime bests and we had a lot of them,” Klosterman added. “Steve Kenlee dropped a lot of time tonight. All of our relays were fantastic. Across the board, I can’t think of any swims that were lackadaisical or slow.”
The annual conference meet began on a positive note for the Cardinals, as Webb City’s 200-yard medley relay team of Judah Ritchie, Micah Brouwer, Zion Wood and Ethan Shipley took first with a state-consideration time of 1:48.
Webb City also won the final event of the night, as Cody Herndon, Emiliano Vasquez, Steve Kenlee and Shipley took first in the 400 freestyle relay with a consideration time of 3:39.
The Cardinals were second in the 200 freestyle relay with a consideration time of 1:40, with Wood, Herndon, Brouwer and Vasquez competing.
Brouwer finished first in two events, winning the 200 individual medley in 2:12 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.
Vasquez finished second in the 50 freestyle in 24.75 seconds, while Shipley was the runner-up in the 100 freestyle (53.08) and Wood took second in the 100 breaststroke (1:07).
Steve Kenlee finished third in both the 100 butterfly and the 500 free, while Wood placed third in the 200 IM.
Shipley finished fourth in the 200 freestyle, while Herndon was fourth in the 50 free and Ritchie was fifth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 200 IM.
Herndon also placed sixth in the 100 freestyle, while Aidan Patterson finished seventh in the 500 free and Vasquez was seventh in the 100 fly.
In the 1-meter diving competition, Webb City’s Eric Keeling was the runner-up with a score of 301.45.
Carson Forcum was the defending diving champion, but he was out sick on Tuesday, Klosterman said.
CARTHAGE HIGHLIGHTS
Carthage won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a state-consideration time of 1:40, with Kellen Frieling, Braxton McBride, Eli Cox and Ezekiel Ramirez competing.
The Tigers were third in the 200 medley relay, with Frieling, McBride, Will Wallace and Ramirez competing. Carthage placed fifth in the 400 freestyle relay, with Cox, Landon White, Trey Nye and Wallace swimming.
McBride placed third in the 50 freestyle (24.97) and fourth in the 100 breaststroke (1:14), while Frieling finished third in the 100 backstroke (1:00).
Also for the Tigers, Wallace placed fourth in the 200 IM and fifth in the 500 freestyle, while Ramirez finished fourth in the 100 freestyle.
White finished fourth in the 100 butterfly and seventh in the 50 free. Ramirez and Frieling finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 200 freestyle. Cox was sixth in the 100 fly and seventh in the 100 free.
Noah Blackford finished eighth in the 200 IM.
Carthage coach Braden McBride was pleased with his team’s showing.
“We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish and I’m happy for the boys,” Coach McBride said. “Last year, we finished fourth at this meet and we were looking for improvement this year. Last year, we had no swimmers on the podium. This year, we saw lots of improvements and had several boys on the podium. I’m happy with how tonight went. And we’ll have everyone back next year besides Ezekiel. So we’re excited about the future.”
JOPLIN HIGHLIGHTS
Joplin’s Zane Newman won the 50-yard freestyle in 24.71 seconds. Newman placed third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.7.
Nathan Wardlow finished second in the 500 freestyle with a consideration time of 5:11. Just a freshman, Wardlow finished fifth in the 200 freestyle in a consideration time of 1:58.
Joplin’s 400 freestyle relay team of Jacob Glenn, Ian Vermillion, Wardlow and Newman finished second with a consideration time of 3:43.
The Eagles placed fourth in the 200 medley relay, with Glenn, Wyatt Satterlee, Newman and Wardlow competing.
The JHS team of Parker Hinman, Jordan Goins, Jackson Mordica and Oliver Bortz finished fifth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:52.
Glenn took fifth in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 backstroke.
Hinman was fifth in the 200 IM in 2:24, while Mordica placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
Vermillion finished eighth in the 200 free and Satterlee took eighth in the 100 breaststroke.
“I thought we did well tonight,” Joplin coach Ali Stauffer said. “Nathan had an awesome time in both of his events. Zane swam really well and I thought our relays did well. I think the boys are excited. We only have two meets left. The boys have been working hard in practice, and hopefully we can continue to drop times.”
OTHER EVENT WINNERS
Other event winners were Ozark’s Graham Eisenmann (200 freestyle, 500 free), Republic’s Brady Lewis (100 fly) and Bryce Martin (100 free) and Nixa’s Kai Brownlee (100 backstroke) and Finnley Bertholdi (diving). Eisenmann set COC records in both events, while Brownlee’s time was also a conference record.
Central Ozark Conference Championships
Team standings: Webb City 307, Carthage 226, Ozark 201, Joplin 178, Nixa 144, Republic 65.
