WEBB CITY, Mo. — As the final races ended Tuesday night at the Buck Miner Swim Center, Webb City cemented victory on their home turf at the second annual Central Ozark Conference boys swimming and diving championships.
The Cardinals finished in the top three in all but one event, ending the night with 338 points. Ozark finished second with 208 points.
The Cardinals got off to a hot start by winning the first event, the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 52 seconds.
“This was the meet we wanted to focus on and I knew they would do well, but they have way outperformed what I imagined,” Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said. “To come from behind and win the medley to start off the meet, it changes everything and I think that’s part of the reason everyone else swam so well. They were just so excited about that one. The whole team has earned this one and I’m glad they get a day to celebrate.”
The Cardinals also closed out the evening with consecutive first place finishes. Micah Brouwer finished with a victory in the 100 breaststroke (1:09), and the team finished first in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:45.
Webb City also had three of the top four finishers in the 1-meter diving competition, including first place winner Carson Forcum, who had a score of 390.20.
JOPLIN THIRD, CARTHAGE FOURTH
Joplin and Carthage also put in strong performances on the day, with the Eagles narrowly placing third overall with 186 points and the Tigers placing fourth at 181 points.
Joplin had several top-three finishes in multiple events. Joplin was highlighted by a first-place finish from Ben Wardlow in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.21 seconds and a first place finish in the 200 freestyle relay with a finishing time of 1:39. They also finished second in the 200 medley relay. Zane Newman placed second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:46.
“The boys have worked really hard this week, not a lot of breaks, so they were tired,” Joplin coach Ali Stauffer said. “This pool is also shallow so it slowed our times down a bit, but it was good to see where we are at. I am proud of them and think we are in a good spot with just a few meets to go and then state.”
The Carthage Tigers also had several top-five finishes, highlighted by third place finishes by Ezekiel Ramirez in the 100 freestyle (55.18), and Kellen Frieling in the 100 backstroke (1:03). They also took fourth place in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:53, narrowly being overcome by Ozark for third place by .05 of a second.
“I’m pretty pleased with our team this year. We are very young, we graduated eight seniors last year, but on the other hand it means we have a lot of returners next year,” said Carthage coach Braden McBride. “Anytime you can put three in the top 12 that’s good, and we had a couple of those events we were three deep in, and so that’s good for the future.”
After Webb City, Ozark, Joplin and Carthage, the Republic Tigers finished fifth with 134 points and Nixa rounded out the meet in sixth place with 114 points.
