Parkway South sets two school records at state swim meet

Parkway South coach Sara Gerth believed her Patriots swim team could win a trophy at the state and they proved her right.

Springfield Glendale won the 38th annual Missouri state girls swimming and diving championship at the Rex-Plex in St. Peters with 190 points. Parkway West and Notre Dame de Sion each had 151.5 points while Parkway South was just behind in fourth with 151 points.

“I did think that we could place top four at state,” Gerth said. “I knew it was going to be close because there was no clear favorite this year. Glendale ran away with it, but second, third and fourth were all within half point of each other. “I knew it was going to be like that going into finals. I wish we could have come up with that half point, but it was hard to do without a diver.”

Last year, the Patriots finished 12th at state. “This is the best state finish for us in the past five years,” Gerth said. “I’m really excited for my girls who worked so hard to achieve this. We had great team chemistry the whole season that paid off for us in the end. “The girls were very excited going into the meet. They knew that had several chances to win, and knew they could finish top fourth. They were pumped and having fun.”

The girls from Springfield impressed Gerth.

“Glendale swam really well. They also had no divers, but ran away with swimming,” Gerth said. “They dominated the meet. It was a great meet this year. It was really exciting that everything was so close.”

The Patriots set two new school records at the state meet. Junior Samm Crocker finished second in the 50 freestyle in 23.81 seconds. She was just beat by Glendale’s Nikke Sisson, who won with a time of 23.78.

It was a record-setting swim for Crocker, Gerth said.

“Samm broke her own school record that she set last year at state,” Gerth said. “I know she wanted to win bad, and she led the race and got out-touched in the end. She’s got another shot next year to be state champ in the event.”

Senior CeCe Etter finished third in the competitive 500 free with a time of 5:02.60.  Etter also was fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.19. Her time in the 500 established a new Parkway South record.

“She broke Liz Smith’s 500 school record, which was very exciting,” Gerth said. “She was a huge part of our success because of her swimming abilities and her leadership skills.”

The Patriots lose just two seniors who scored at state this year. That bodes well for next year,  Gerth said. “We look forward to being strong next year as well,” Gerth said.