WEBB CITY, Mo. — Half a point is all that separated Kickapoo and Webb City in the final team standings at the Red Bird Invitational swim meet on Saturday at the Buck Miner Swim Center.
Kickapoo finished with 244.5 points and Webb City recorded a team score of 244.
In the final event of the day, Kickapoo won the 400-yard freestyle relay to clinch the team championship while Webb City finished third.
“It was a great meet and it’s always fun and exciting when it comes down to the last relay,” Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said. “We had a five and a half point lead going into the last event. Losing by half a point is heartbreaking, but our kids dropped eight seconds in the last relay fighting for that top spot. They put a lot into it.”
Klosterman noted there were a lot of positives for his team.
“I was impressed,” he said. “They had a lot of inspired swims and way more best times than I thought they would today. They were racing out of their minds today.”
Webb City’s Ethan Shipley won the 100 freestyle in 54.82 seconds. Shipley finished second in the 200 freestyle in 2 minutes, 3 seconds, with Steve Kenlee seventh in the same event.
Micah Brouwer and Zion Wood placed second and third, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke. Brouwer was third in the 200 individual medley and Wood was seventh.
Vasquez finished third in the 100 butterfly and fourth in the 50 free, Jonathan Kenlee was fourth in the 100 fly and Cody Herndon finished fifth in the 100 free. Steve Kenlee placed seventh in the 500 free and Ritchie was seventh in the 100 backstroke.
The Cardinals were third in the 200 medley relay, with Judah Ritchie, Brouwer, Vasquez and Shipley finishing in 1:56, a state consideration time.
Webb City’s team of Steve Kenlee, Vasquez, Herndon and Shipley finished third in the 400 freestyle relay with a consideration time of 3:50.
Webb City’s Carson Forcum recorded a state-qualifying score in the 1-meter diving competition with 392.8 points. He finished second to Kickapoo’s Brett Smith (411.15).
Webb City’s Logan Thibault was third in the diving competition with a consideration score of 362.55 and Eric Keeling was fourth.
Klosterman noted his Cardinals have made steady progress this season.
“This group has been hard-working from Day 1,” Klosterman said. “They are definitely improving and we saw a lot of that today. I’m proud of what they’re doing.”
JOPLIN TAKES THIRD
Joplin finished third in the team standings 197 points.
The Eagles won the 200 medley relay in a state consideration time of 1:51, with Zane Reavley, Ben Wardlow, Zane Newman and Jonah Hensley competing.
Joplin’s team of Hensley, Reavley, Newman and Wardlow also won the 200 freestyle with a consideration time of 1:39. The Eagles placed fifth in the 400 free relay, with Colin Vermillion, Wyatt Satterlee, Jackson Mordica and Ian Vermillion competing.
Wardlow won two individual events, the 50 freestyle (23.51) and the 100 breaststroke (1:06).
Also for the Eagles, Newman was third in the 500 free and Hensley placed fourth in the 100 freestyle.
Reavley finished sixth in both the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke, while Newman took sixth in the 50 free and Mordica finished seventh in the breaststroke.
OTHER EVENT WINNERS
Nixa’s Kai Brownlee won the 200 freestyle in 1:59 and Nevada standout Ben Hines took first in the 200 IM (2:09). Kickapoo’s Gabriel Auistin won the 100 butterfly (54.8) and the 100 backstroke (54.11), while Nevada’s Cody Leung took first in the 500 freestyle (5:13).
COC MEET IS OCT. 20
After a meet in Springfield on Friday, Webb City will host the Central Ozark Conference Meet on Oct. 20.
“The biggest goal we have is the COC,” Klosterman said. “Now that it’s an official conference meet and it counts for the all-sports trophy, we want to contribute the best we can. The boys have never won it since it’s been official. So they want to be able to call themselves conference champions.”
Red Bird Invitational
(At Buck Miner Swim Center, Webb City)
Team Standings: Kickapoo 244.5, Webb City 244, Joplin 197, West Plains 160.5, Marshfield 130, Monett 104, Nevada 65, Nixa 64, Hillcrest 45.
