Parkway South repeats as Class 2 team champ behind Sullivan's four golds

ST. PETERS — Kylee Sullivan and her teammates let out a big yell Friday afternoon when they stood atop the St. Peters Rec-Plex podium and hoisted the state championship trophy.

After admitting they were maybe a little nervous as the defending state champion heading into the Missouri Class 2 Girls Swimming and Diving Championships, Sullivan and the Patriots shook off those nerves with a solid performance in Thursday preliminaries and blasted them away Friday with a strong showing in the finals to win their second consecutive team title.

“As cliché as it is, I could not ask for a better way to end it,” said Sullivan, a Mizzou recruit. “This is everything we were hoping for and working toward. Just to actually achieve it was really fun.”

Down one point to eventual runner-up Park Hill South after the completion of 10 of the 12 finals, Parkway South got a pair of top-eight finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke and capped the day off with a nearly four-second drop from their prelim time to win the 400 freestyle relay.

That gave the Patriots a total of 238 points and the second girls swimming state title in school history, doing it in back-to-back fashion.

“For us to go back to back is just a testament to these kids,” Parkway South coach Blakeleigh Mathes said. “They never lost sight of what they could do. You worry about the emotional hangover of going back to back, but they never lost sight of it. They came in every single day and did the work. They truly act and live like a team.”

Sullivan was at the center of it all for South with a quartet of gold-medal performances — the second successive year she was the only Class 2 swimmer to win four golds — including state records in both of her individual events.

Sullivan's first individual win Friday came in the 200 individual medley, as she posted a personal-best time of 2 minutes, 1.88 seconds. That bested the Class 2 mark she already set in winning last year's IM final with a 2:02.13 and was her third successive state title in the event.

“It feels really good. I'm excited about it,” she said. “And this being my senior year, just to defend the title was one of my goals.”

Sullivan was atop the medal stand again moments later when she captured another event for the third consecutive time, this one the 100 butterfly in a time of 54.27.

That topped the previous Class 2 mark of 54.36 by former Cor Jesu standout Karisa Franz in 2018.

“It's really cool to go out on a high note,” Sullivan said. “That's been a goal of mine for a few years now, so I'm happy to get that done (Friday).”

Sullivan teamed with freshman Lexi Cook, junior Alayna Henage and senior Lucy Price to start off Friday with a bang by winning the 200 medley relay in a record-breaking time of 1:44.51.

Sullivan, Cook and Henage later were joined by senior Mia Muckerman on the Patriots' winning 400 free relay team with a time of 3:30.51, easily besting their mark from the prelims (3:34.46).

“It was a goal from the beginning that they wanted that state (200 medley) record,” Mathes said. “I think they wanted to get the four-free relay one as well, but I think they'll take the medley and call it a day.”

Sullivan wasn't the only swimmer breaking records Friday.

Eureka junior Haiden Schoessel followed up her double record-breaking day Thursday in the prelims with record swims again in those same two events in Friday's finals.

Schoessel captured the 50 free title with a time of 23.02, just edging the 23.13 she posted in the prelims.

“I'll be chasing (under 23 seconds) into club season and definitely next year,” she said. “But, overall, I'm really proud of how I did. You can't ask much more than winning the gold medal and dropping from yesterday.”

Then in the 100 free, Schoessel not only broke her own Class 2 record (previously 50.35), but she overtook the 14-year-old mark of former Timberland great Taylor Wohrley (50.19) when she posted a time of 50.11 in the final.

“It's the coolest thing ever to even have the opportunity to swim here and get a gold medal, let alone break the overall record,” Schoessel said. “It'll be a minute before it all starts to set in, but I'm incredibly thankful for it.”

The records weren't done falling, though, as Timberland junior Izzy Ackley topped her prelim time (54.68) with a 54.46 to win the 100 backstroke title. The record and the title came on the heels of her runner-up finish in the event last season.

“I have put it seems like so much work into it, so I was excited to see what would happen in this meet,” she said. “To see all that work pay off is unbelievable.”

Cor Jesu senior Caroline Foltz was the other area winner Friday when she made it back-to-back 100 breaststroke titles. Her time of 1:02.37 just missed out on setting a Class 2 record (1:02.19), but she did top her times from both last year's finals and this year's prelims.

“It was a best time for me, so I'm obviously really happy with the race,” said Foltz, who will swim at Indiana. “I'm a little bummed that I could have gone a few tenths faster, but it is what is and I had a great time with a great way to end my senior swim season.”

MICDS won the other relay final, the 200 free, when the team of senior Juliette Phillips, sophomore Lindsay Naber, junior Mikaela Mikulec and sophomore Grace Coppel posted a time of 1:37.09.

Only two individual swimming titles were won by athletes not from St. Louis and they both came from Liberty North junior Avery True, who won the 200 and the 500 free finals, with the latter coming in an overall state meet record time.

Kirkwood had a third-place team finish, compiling 201 points to finish one point behind Park Hill South for the second season in a row. Cor Jesu scored 183 points to finish fourth, holding off Metro Women's Athletic Association rival St. Joseph's (180.5) for the final team trophy.

The same four teams won trophies for the second successive year, but only the top spot remained unchanged. The back-to-back titles brought an immense amount of closing satisfaction to the Patriots' three seniors that swam Friday in Sullivan, Muckerman and Price.

“It was really exciting just because these are all my best friends,” said Muckerman, who is not swimming in college. “Doing it two years in a row is just the best memory.”

Price, who will swim at Lindenwood, is excited to see if Parkway South's talented group of underclassmen can make it a three-peat next season.

“This team is really strong,” Price said. “I can't wait to watch what they all do next year.”