EDWARDSVILLE - Karis Chen of the Montclaire Swim Club broke a 10-year SWISA record in the 15-18 100-yard breaststroke, coming in at 1:09.80, which turned out to be the highlight of the meet, as the Collinsville Swim Club won the girls championship, while Montclaire won the overall title, at the 62nd Southwestern Illinois Swimming Association championship meet Sunday morning and afternoon at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center on the campus of Edwardsville High School.
The Gators won the girls title with 1,036 points, edging out the Marlins, who had 1,012 points. Summers Port Swim Club of Godfrey was a distant third with 654 points, followed by fourth place Paddlers Swim Club of Granite City, with 582 points, and Sunset Hills Country Club of Edwardsville was fifth with 443 points.
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Montclaire won the overall championship with 1,972 points, while Collinsville was second at 1,876 points, the Sharks finished third with 1,421 points, the Pirates came in fourth with 1,148 points, and the Stingrays were fifth at 507 points.
Summers Port performed well all day, with all swimmers displaying a solid effort, not just in the meet, but all season long, which pleased head coach Maddie Monroe.
"I think our girls and boys swam pretty well," Monroe said. "It was a pretty close points team race between us and Paddlers, so we kept trying to beat everybody in the red caps."
The Paddlers' swimmers all dropped times as the meet progressed, with many setting individual best times, a good sign for the Pirates.
"I think things went great," said Paddlers head coach Macie Sparks. "We moved at a good pace, all of my swimmers are dropping time, and going individual bests. So, I'm super happy with the results overall."
Unlike the SWISA venues, which are outdoor pools, the championship meet was held at an indoor facility such as the CFAC, which makes a big difference in the times and performances, as well as the general atmosphere of the meet itself.
"I think it makes a lot of difference," Sparks said. "A lot of the kids on our team don't swim year-round, so swimming indoors is a big difference for them. And it's kind of takes an adjustment period for them to get used to during warmups and stuff like that. So I do think it's a big difference. I think indoor things run a little faster, but outdoors, I think you get that classic SWISA feel."
Sunset Hills had a good number of swimmers do well, and likewise, the swimmers worked hard and also dropped times as the season progressed.
"We had a good meet today," said Stingrays head coach Owen Gruben. "We've had very few DQs, and that's what we go for in this meet. We have been swimming well, a lot of our swimmers have been getting high places in their events. It's what we like to see when we come here. It's good competition."
In the results in the girls eight-and-under division, the Marlins won the 100-yard medley relay at 1:24.12, while Amelia Shaffer of Montclaire won the 25-yard freestyle at 19.00 seconds, and teammate Meredith Luitjohan won the 50-yard freestyle at 37.70 seconds. Luitjohan also won the 25-yard breaststroke at 25.99 seconds, with the Marlins' Layla Sweet taking the 25-yard backstroke at 21.97 seconds, the 25-yard butterfly went to Luitjohan, taking her third event of the day at 18.55 seconds, and Montclaire sweeping the division with a win in the 100-yard freestyle relay at 1:16.28.
In the nine-and-10 grouping, Ellie Forman of the Gators won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:07.37, while Collinsville won the 200-yard medley relay at 2:42.71, and Ellie Forman took the 50-yard freestyle at 31.42 seconds. Josie Forman was the winner of the 100-yard individual medley at 1:23.14, and also won the 50-yard breaststroke at 42.54 seconds, while Hildi Deist of Sunset Hills won the 50-yard backstroke at 40.81 seconds, the 50-yard butterfly went to Ellie Forman, taking her third win of the day at 35.39 seconds, and the Gators won the 200-yard freestyle relay at 2:25.07.
In the 11-12 age category, Alexandria Suhre of Paddlers won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.70, while Collinsville took the 200-yard medley relay at 2:26.56, Teagan Moszier of Montclaire won the 50-yard freestyle at 30.50 seconds, and also won the 100-yard individual medley at 1:17.65. Suhre won the 50-yard breaststroke at 34.63 seconds, while the 50-yard backstroke went to the Marlins' Aster Carson at 35.65 seconds. the 50-yard butterfly winner was Suhre, winning her third race of the meet with a time of 30.69 seconds, and the 200-yard freestyle relay went to the Gators at 2:08.51.
In the 13-14 events, Morgan Mitton of the Marlins won the 200-yard freestyle at 2:05.70, while teammate Kyla Calvin won the 100-yard freestyle at 58.80 seconds, and Montclaire won the 200-yard medley relay at 2:09.68. Calvin also won the 50-yard freestyle at 26.62 seconds, while the Stingrays' Greta Deist won the 100-yard individual medley at 1:06.71, and also won the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:15.75. Deist made it three in a row with a win in the 100-yard backstroke at 1:05.00, with Mitton winning the 50-yard butterfly at 29.59 seconds, and the Marlins winning the 200-yard freestyle relay at 1:49.20.
In the 15-18 races, Chen won the 200-yard freestyle at 1:11.82, while the 100-yard freestyle went to Collinsville's Kylee Strong-Chasteen at 58.62 seconds, and the Gators won the 200-yard medley relay at 2:12.26. Strong-Chasteen won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.82 seconds, while Madelyn Pamatot of Paddlers was the winner of the 100-yard individual medley at 1:12.83. Chen then made meet history with her record-breaking 1:09.80 in the 100-yard breaststroke, eclipsing the time of 1:10.30, set by Ellen Higdon in 2014. Pamatot won the 100-yard backstroke at 1:10.42, Strong-Chasteen won her third event of the day in the 50-yard butterfly, having a time of 28.53, and the 200-yard freestyle relay went to Collinsville at 1:55.42.
All the top individual scorers had 48 points each to win their respective age groups. The leaders were Luitjohan in the eight-and-under group, Ellie Forman in the nine-and-10 category, Suhre in the 11-12 division, the 13-14 top scorer was Deist, and the 15-18 winner was Strong-Chasteen.
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