High school girls swimming preview

It is time to jump back into the water. The 2012-13 high school girls swimming season is here.

MICDS is coming off a third-place finish at state last year and looks to be strong under with coach Kristen Kaiser building a consistent team that has finished in top four at state in the past three years.

Parkway North finished fourth at state last year and has two-event state champion Heather Lundstrom back for her senior season. Lundstrom won state last winter in the 200 IM with a time of 2 minutes, 3.72 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 54.51 seconds.

Parkway South swept through Suburban West Conference dual matches last season undefeated and won the conference meet. Coach Sara Gerth has 25 swimmers back.

Lafayette and Marquette both look to be good this season, too.

Here is a look at the teams in alphabetical order:

 

EUREKA WILDCATS

Coach: Sharon Wasson. Entering 18th year at Eureka with a dual record of 290-70. Has coached two state champions and two state record holders in Amber Green.

Returning swimmers/divers: 17

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Stephanie Mueller, junior Emily Muggleton, senior Ellie Figueroa

Goals: Take one meet at a time. First goal to win the Summit Quad.

Teams in Suburban West Conference: Eureka, Lafayette, Lindbergh, Marquette, Mehlville, Parkway South

Favorites to win conference: Lafayette, Marquette

Quote: “Our girls are hard workers and take their commitment to their sport seriously,” Wasson said. “It makes coaching easy.”

 

INCARNATE WORD ACADEMY RED KNIGHTS

Coach: Autumn Cortivo

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: seniors Alyssa Heinsohn and Kiley Zwick in the 100 breast, junior Ellen Klasing in 100 back and freshman Allison Bell in 200 IM

Teams in the Metro Women’s Athletic Association: Cor Jesu, Incarnate Word Academy, Nerix Hall, St. Joseph’s Academy, Ursuline

Goals: Working on having the upperclassmen qualify for state

Quote: “We are still in the rebuilding years,” Cortivo said. “I am really excited for the new year as we have a new assistant coach in Nate Smith.”

 

KENNEDY CELTS

2011-12 record: Finished second place in three of the last four years

Coach: Ann Hawkey. Entering sixth year with Kennedy swim team.

Returning swimmers/divers: 17

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Carlye Chaney in the 50 free, 200 free, 500 free

Newcomers expected to contribute: freshman diver Samantha Molner

Teams in AAA: DuBorg, Duschesne, Kennedy, Rosati-Kain, St. Dominic, Trinity

Favorites to win conference: Rosati-Kain

Quote: “I am looking forward to new teams in our conference this season along with a few changes in our schedule,” Hawkey said. “The competition level should keep my swimmers excited and working hard. Also, I am looking forward to our building on our dive team with a new dive coach in Kevin Brewer. We have two new freshman divers as well as one returning junior diver.”

 

LAFAYETTE LANCERS

2011-12 record: Finished 9-1 in duals. Second at conference. Finished 17th at state meet.

Coach: Todd Gabel. Entering sixth year at Lafayette.

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Gretchen Cox in the 100 back and 200 free, junior Lauren Hansen in the 100 back and 100 free, senior Taylor Holz in the 100 fly and 200 IM, sophomore Claire Kirchhoefer in 200 IM and 100 breast, junior Mollie Macrae in 100 fly, senior Laura Paskoff in 100 and 50 free, junior Mae Riordan in 200 IM and 500 free, senior Kelly Shaw in diving, senior Emily Slater in diving

Newcomers expected to contribute: freshman Jordan Stout in 200 and 500 free

Goals: Win conference meet. Do well at state meet.

Teams in Suburban West Conference: Eureka, Lafayette, Lindbergh, Marquette, Mehlville, Parkway South

Quote: “This year’s team will be very exciting to watch,” Gabel said.

 

MARQUETTE MUSTANGS

2011-12 record: Finished with a 7-3 dual meet record. Third at conference, 20th at state.

Coach: Joe Schoedel. Entering third year at Marquette.

Returning swimmers/divers: 25

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Natasha Porporis in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke, junior Abby Watson in the 100 backstroke, junior Jessi Goring in the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle, sophomore Raquel Porporis in the 500 and 200 freestyle, senior Sarah Barger in the 500 freestyle, junior Claire Krofft in the 500 freestyle

Newcomers expected to contribute: Allison Tichenor, Anna Main, Emily Nelson

Goals: Try to improve on our third-place finish at conference and 20th-place finish at State. We also could take down a couple of school records.

Teams in Suburban West Conference: Eureka, Lafayette, Lindbergh, Marquette, Mehlville, Parkway South

Favorites to win conference: Lafayette, Parkway South, Marquette

Quote: “I’m really looking forward to this season, as we’ve only lost two seniors each of the past two seasons,” Schoedel said. “We have six returning state swimmers. We should be a fairly deep team. We had a very large recruiting class this year as well, so the future of our program is in good shape.”

 

MICDS RAMS

2011-12 record: Lost one dual meet. Lost conference to by one point. Finished third at state meet.

Coach: Kristen Kaiser. Entering sixth year at MICDS. Also finished fourth at state in 2011 and fourth in 2010.

Returning swimmers/divers: 13

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Trey Ross in the 100 fly and 100 back; senior Masha Podokshik in the 200 free, 200 IM, 500 free; junior Lily Reisinger in the 100 free, 100 back

Newcomers expected to contribute: freshman Sarah Finlay in the 200 free, 100 back and 500 free and freshman Geneva Lee

Goals: Win the Metro Conference. Get a trophy at state again. Swim dual meets in order to set ourselves up for a great end of season.

Teams in Metro Conference: John Burroughs, Lutheran North, MICDS, Principia, Villa Duchesne, Westminster Christian Academy

Favorites to win the conference: Villa Duchesne, MICDS

Quote: “I am really excited about our girls team this year,” Kaiser said. “We have a lot of new talent, combined with some deep experience at the state level. I am looking to our only seniors — Trey Ross and Masha Podokshik — to lead our team this season. We graduated some great kids, but I believe we can do just as well at state with the freshmen we added and the talent we kept.”

 

PARKWAY NORTH VIKINGS

2011-12 record: Finished 13-0 in dual meets. Finished fourth overall in the state for second year in a row.

Coach: Bart Prosser. Entering 12th year at Parkway North.

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Heather Lundstrom in the 200 IM (defending state champion) and 100 butterfly (defending state champion); Kaitlin Zinselmeier in the 100 free, 200 free and 50 free; Megan Petersen in backstroke and multiple free events; Taylor Vinson in sprint events; Maggie Roderick in sprint events

Goals: To finish over 500, perform well at conference and have a great showing at state

Teams in Suburban South Conference: Kirkwood, Parkway Central, Parkway North, Parkway West, Summit, University City, Webster Groves

Favorites to win conference: Parkway West has a large group of young year round swimmers as well as Parkway Central. Hoping that we will be in the mix with those teams this year for a high finish at conference.

Quote: “After the great success from the previous years, I am excited to see us as a group grow and get better throughout the season,” Prosser said.

 

PARKWAY SOUTH

2011-12 record: Went undefeated in conference duals. Were conference and conference meet champs. Finished 12th at state.

Coach: Sara Gerth. Entering fifth year as head coach at Parkway South.

Returning swimmers/diver: 25

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior CeCe Etter in the IM, free and back events; junior Samm Crocker in sprint free and fly (she finished second in the 50 free at state last year); sophomore Jenna Wilkes in distance free and fly, sophomore Kirstie Crook in free events; sophomore Lauren Hetzler in sprint events

Newcomers to watch: freshman Maddie Heutel in free events, junior Anna DaSilva in sprint events

Goals: We would love to win our conference again, and get a top 10 finish at state.

Teams in Suburban West Conference: Eureka, Lafayette, Lindbergh, Marquette, Mehlville, Parkway South

Favorites to win conference: Lafayette is going to be a challenge as always at our conference meet. Marquette also is always very tough.

Quote: “I am very excited about this season. We lost a bunch of great seniors, but are returning with a bunch more awesome underclassmen,” Gerth said. “We should have some pretty great relays, plus some top individual swimmers, and hopefully a couple divers doing very well for us. Not only do we have a fast bunch, but a great group of very nice girls, and that is really what you want as a coach.”

 

PARKWAY WEST

2011-12 record: 7-5

Coach: Allison Zeller. Entering third year as head coach at Parkway West with a record of 18-7.

Returning swimmers/divers: 13

Swimmers to watch for this winter: state returners are Emily Ross, Ashley Robinson, Natalie Folkins and Francesca Giganti

Newcomers expected to contribute: freshmen Caroline Bias, Irene Frederick, Carolyn Kammeyer, Grace Miller, Lindsey Stucki, Kristen Petersen and Joan Tao

Goals: Win conference championship. Finish in top three at Parkway South Invitational. Improve from our ninth-place finish at state last year.

Teams in Suburban South Conference: Kirkwood, Parkway Central, Parkway North, Parkway West, Summit, University City, Webster Groves

Quote: “Over half of our team is new to the team this year,” Zeller said. “We have a good mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen. If we stay focused and work together, we should have a very successful season.”

 

WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN ACADEMY WILDCATS

2011-12 record: Finished 8-6 in duals. Sent one relay and one swimmer in two individual events to state.

Coach: Kent Kehr. Entering 25th year as head coach at Westminster.

Returning swimmers/divers: 26. Total team is 50 with three divers.

Swimmers/divers to watch for this winter: senior Ellie Straub in 100 back, junior Leah Votava in 100 fly, sophomore Kaitlin Kittelson in 100 breaststroke, senior Amber Terschak in 200 free

Newcomers expected to contribute: freshman Lauren Massot in 100 back, freshman Kaitlin Terschak in 200 free

Goals: Qualify our medley relay and at least one or two individuals to state. Finish in top 4 in conference.

Teams in Metro Conference: John Burroughs, Lutheran North, MICDS, Principia, Villa Duchesne, Westminster Christian Academy

Favorites in conference: Villa Duchesne, MICDS

Quote: “Our newcomers should add a lot of depth to our team,” Kehr said. “We are excited about the prospects of making state in the medley relay and seeing what else transpires throughout the course of the season.”