Grace Beahan, Ella Pearl Set Records as Marquette Wins Missouri Girls Class 2 State Championships

Photo Courtesy: MHS Swim and Dive Twitter (@MarqSwimDive)

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The 2019 Missouri Girls Class 2 State Swimming and Diving Championships took place on Friday, Feb. 15 at the St. Peters Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Mo.

Hickman’s Grace Beahan and Kirkwood’s Ella Pearl each broke a Class 2 mark; Beahan etched her name in the record book in the 500 free while Pearl did the same in the 100 back.

Marquette completed their perfect season with 278 points to secure the team title ahead of defending champions Rock Bridge (224.5) and Nerinx Hall (194.5).

Click here for full results.

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Marquette – 278
2. Rock Bridge – 224.5
3. Nerinx Hall – 194.5
4. Cor Jesu Academy – 186
5. Hickman – 168

The meet began as Cor Jesu Academy’s Maddie Palatt (27.62), Maddie Mather (30.21), Karisa Franz (24.79) and Anna Moehn (24.50) won the 4×50 medley relay in 1:47.12. Nerinx Hall took second in 1:47.81 and Marquette placed third in 1:49.47.

Beahan cruised to first in the 200 free, stopping the clock in 1:51.14 for over a three-second win. Second went to Marquette’s Carsyn Cosman in 1:54.63 while Rock Bridge’s Ansley Barnes finished third in 1:55.89.

Not too long after helping her medley relay team to victory, Franz was back in the water to claim a personal win in the 200 IM. Her time of 2:05.22 earned gold while silver went to Pearl in 2:06.30 while Park Hill South’s Georgia Clark snagged bronze in 2:07.84.

Liberty North freshman Ainsley Dillon splashed-and-dashed her way to a win in the 50 free, posting a quick 23.72. Her time was just faster than runner-up’s Courtney Harris (23.76) of Fort Zumwalt West and Lafayette (Wildwood)’s Claire Vanbiljon took third in 24.16.

Staley’s Ella McMahon dove to the top spot on the 1-meter board, finishing with a total score of 481.50. Lee’s Summit North’s Annie McCord took second with 405.10 points while Park Hill South’s Taylor Young scored 394.15 for third.

Franz found herself on top of the podium yet again, this time taking first in the 100 fly with a time of 54.99. She still owns the Class 2 mark of 54.36 she set last year. Marquette’s Amanda Yu (58.01) and Nixa’s Olivia Stonemason (58.24) finished second and third, respectively.

After taking second in the 50 free, Harris powered her way to the win in the 100 free after posting a speedy 50.93 during finals. Dillon raced to second in 51.77 while Nerinx Hall’s Emily Traube completed the top three with a time of 52.36.

Beahan dominated the 500 free, winning the event by 12 seconds as the only swimmer in the field under five minutes. Her time of 4:56.40 broke her own Class 2 record of 4:59.80 she set last year. Second went to Blue Springs’ Shaedyn Read (5:08.63) and third went to Barnes (5:10.25).

Nerinx Hall’s Meghan Bryan (24.69), Katie Knapp (24.38), Grace Schaefer (25.76) and Traube (23.65) combined to win the 4×50 free relay in 1:38.48, narrowly edging out runner-up Liberty North (1:38.83 and third-place finisher Marquette (1:38.91).

Pearl raced her way to a gold medal and a new Class 2 record in the 100 back. Her winning time of 55.83 bested Franz’s 56.49 set last year at this meet. Rock Bridge’s Mara Manion (56.38) and Clark (56.96) rounded out the top three finishers.

Sarah Vogt of Hickman got her hands to the wall the fastest in the 100 breast, finishing the race in 1:04.31. Lindbergh’s Karli Sewell raced to second in 1:05.04 while Marquette’s Hailey Benting took third in 1:06.12.

The meet concluded as Rock Bridge’s Barnes (54.39), Olivia Henderson (52.70), Elise Henderson (53.72) and Manion (51.17) won the final 4×100 free relay in 3:31.98 – just slightly ahead of Cor Jesu Academy (3:32.03) who took a close second. Third went to Hickman (3:36.77).

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Kara Wagner

5 years ago

Way to go CoMo swim gals! Mary Barnes, Shelly Manion

coleseum Rome-Italy

5 years ago

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