Kirkwood junior Addie Ludbrook knew her team had a pretty good shot at winning the title at its own invitational last weekend, but it was still a thrill to see the final results.
“I think definitely going into it we figured we were probably going to win just because we'd beat all these other teams before,” Ludbrook said. “But it was still fun to see that we won by a lot.”
The Pioneers compiled 370 points to top a stacked field that included Eureka (296), Lafayette (270.5), defending Class 1 champion Parkway West (226) and Cape Central (221) right behind them at the Kirkwood Invitational girls swimming and diving meet Jan. 13-14 at Walker Natatorium.
“I was excited about how we performed,” Kirkwood coach Matt Beasley said. “We had 100 percent season-best times, which was great. I had quite a few swims from girls that were actually lifetime-bests. Even some of my club girls reached some times maybe they've never seen or hadn't gone that fast in three or four years.”
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Ludbrook was the Pioneers' only individual champion after she won the 100-yard butterfly final, while Kirkwood's 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams also were victorious.
It was the Pioneers' depth that helped seal the team championship.
“I think our depth kind of showed through a little bit. Depth at an invite and depth at conference, we are a pretty deep team. Now when you're talking about state, it changes a little bit because state is all about having three really good relays and then basically having a lot of top-eight finalists to come out with a championship,” said Beasley, whose team won the Class 2 title in 2021. “But I would say we are definitely still a deep team. We are probably one of the deeper teams in the state in terms of an everyday dual meet team or invite team or conference-style type team. I think by the time we get to state, though, our top four or five girls are really going to have to show up in a big way and make sure they are getting themselves into those A-final situations or we're not going to score as many points as we would like to.”
Ludbrook won the 100 fly title at the Kirkwood Invite with a time of 58.16 seconds, which was just more than one second ahead of Kickapoo's Addyson Moore.
“It wasn't my fastest time (56.95). I was hoping to go a little faster, but I'm still happy with the race and how I placed,” Ludbrook said. “The big thing for me is to work on my turns because they're kind of slow, so that'll help me drop a little bit of time there.”
Ludbrook finished fourth in the fly at the Class 2 state meet last season. Parkway South's Kylee Sullivan won the title in convincing fashion and is back again this season. Ludbrook's teammate, Alyssa Dennis, was second, but she has since graduated, while St. Joseph's Leah Renner was third with Ludbrook just two-tenths of a second behind her, so the goal is to improve her state time and place this season.
“It seems like every time she's been hitting the water, she's been getting a little bit faster, so that's an encouraging thing,” Beasley said. “She is just such a solid butterflyer and she's been progressing nicely this season. I think when it's all said and done, she's going to be in the hunt to try to win the 100 fly. We know that there's a really good girl we just saw (Tuesday) at Parkway South that is going to be extremely hard to beat, but Addie is as tough as they come. She's a grinder and, when it's all said and done, she's going to be in the race.”
Beasley was just as impressed with Ludbrook's third-place effort in the 200 freestyle at the Kirkwood Invite.
“Where she's really progressed I feel like as a swimmer is in her 200 freestyle event,” he said. “This is a girl who I think her lifetime best was about a 1:57 mid. Coming into the invite, I think she had some pretty lofty goals for that race and ended up going a 1:56.42.”
Kirkwood's Sophie Wallace swims the 100-yard freestyle during Kirkwood Invitational, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, at Kirkwood High School in Kirkwood, Mo. Michael Gulledge, Special to STLhighschoolsports.com
Junior Sophie Wallace also had a strong showing over the weekend with runner-up finishes in both the 50 and 100 frees, coming in just behind Eureka standout Haiden Schoessel in both events.
“I was really pleased with both of her races,” Beasley said. “She had not been under 24 seconds in the 50 since last year at state, so that was a big swim for her to go 23.7. And then in the 100, her 51.2 is a lifetime best. I'm pretty excited about her progress this season and we've got some pretty big goals for her as well.”
Those big goals for Wallace include strong state finishes again in both events after she was second in the 50 free and third in the 100 free last season.
“She's going to be matched up against (Schoessel) and she's about as fast as they come, so that'll be a tough battle, but Sophie will give it everything she's got,” Beasley said. “She's more dangerous in the 100, for sure, because it takes her a 50 to get moving but her second 50 is probably the fastest second 50 in the state.”
The Pioneers are done with the dual and invite portion of their season. The focus now turns to the Suburban Conference Yellow Pool Championships on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at Marquette and the Class 2 state meet Feb. 16-17 at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
The conference meet features a who's-who of area swimming powers with the two defending state champs (Parkways South and Parkway West) joining Kirkwood, Eureka, Lafayette and Marquette in a state-like environment, so the next two weeks of practice will be used to gear up for that.
“When you come off an invite, we kind of need to build back up and get the feel again making sure we're putting in a final push before we get to taper time and making that last descent into state,” Beasley said.
