Parkway North wins Suburban South Conference swim meet for the first time

Parkway North achieved a school first and coach Lindsey Ehret is proud of her girls swim team.

The Vikings won the Suburban South Conference girls swim meet for the first time ever.

Parkway North finished first with 464 points in the annual meet held at Summit. The other team scores were: Parkway Central 379, Parkway West 302, Kirkwood 287, Ladue 266, Summit 156, Clayton 129, Webster Groves 85, and University City 58.

“Parkway North has never won a conference title until now,” Vikings coach Lindsey Ehret said. “We thought last year would be the year, but ended up third. We’re thrilled with the win this year.

“The conference meet at Summit is a place where the girls have swam many times before, so it’s a very familiar sight for them. The eight lanes are nice and it’s a fast pool.”

Coming in second did not displease Parkway Central coach Kevin Mabie. He said he thought his Colts would compete for the title.

“We were shooting for a top 2 finish,” Mabie said. “We were happy to finish second. Our conference features many of the best athletes in the state, so it was nice to have such a strong second-place finish.”

Parkway West was the defending conference champions.

“West is down a little this year, but will definitely rebound in the coming years due to some young up-and-comers from the Parkway Swim Club program,” Ehret said.

Parkway North won two relays — the  200 Medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 51.77 seconds and the 400 free relay in 3:41.09. Other first-place finishes for the Vikings include two wins by Heather Lundstrom. In the 200 free, she won in 1:52.9 and also took the 500 free in 5:01.35. In the 100 fly, Amanda Stadermann won in 58.66. Natalie Gray won the diving competition with 445.35 points.

Stadermann was a runnerup in the 200 IM. Taylor Voelker was runnerup in the 100 backstroke and scored points in the 200 free. Dyana Schneider scored points in the finals heat of the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke. The 200 free relay team (Courtney Clark, Julia Saunders, Erin Weinstein, and Kaitlin Zinselmeier) was fourth.

Ehret said her girls enjoy swimming in the conference meet. It’s one they always look forward to competing in every year.

“The conference meet is fun for the team because of the psyche buddy aspect to it,” Ehret said. “The girls all exchange little notes and gifts to help encourage one another during the week of conference. An added bonus is the competition from other schools.”

Make no mistake, winning conference is big for the Vikings. Ehret said it was one of the team’s goals but winning it requires a team to do it. It’s about everyone.

“(Assistant) Coach (Bart) Prosser and I have stressed to the team that this win and our success this season is indeed a team effort,” Ehret said. “The girls in the pool need the support of the girls in the stands, meaning that even those team members who weren’t able to score points, still matter and contribute to the success we’ve experienced.

“We are the same size as last year, but stronger and faster. This played a key role in the win. Our divers contributed immensely this year. When you start out 50 points ahead before the swimming events even start. It’s a nice cushion to have.”

Parkway West senior Kate Gately won two events. She captured the 50 free in 23.90 and the 100 free in 53.06.

Parkway Central’s Ally Neumann won two events — the 200 IM in 2:11.05; and the  100 breast in 1:07.16.
“Ally swam really well, “ Mabie said. “Her 200 IM was a personal best, but she’s been faster in breaststroke. They were her fastest swims this season and the breaststroke was the fastest in the state this season.”

It was a meet where “everyone swam well,” Mabie said about his Colts.

Parkway Central began the meet with four girls qualified to swim individual events at state. At conference, these Colts earned state cuts and will be able to compete — junior Corey Conroy, senior Mary Kendig, senior Katie Goddard, sophomore Holly Eberlin, sophomore Kelilah Liu  and sophomore Allison Bain.

“It was quite a meet for us,” Mabie said. “It means we’re ready for state.”

Indeed.  A conference meet is a springboard to this week’s state tournament. The state meet begins Friday at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters. The finals will be held Saturday.

“Our performances at conference gave us tremendous momentum to go into the state meet,” Ehret said. “Our state girls have not begun to taper, so the sky’s the limit with what they can do when fully rested.

“State will be a challenging meet for us, but we’ve set our goals high and the determination of our girls will lead to a memorable end to the season and their tenure as Parkway North swimmers and divers.”