ST. PETERS — Caitlin Kuhlmann and her teammates did some homework prior to their appearance at the Missouri Class 1 girls swimming and diving meet.
“Earlier last week, we were looking at where everyone was seeded and we saw so many people just on the edge of top eight or just on the edge of top 16,” the Clayton senior said.
Kuhlmann and the Greyhounds came through with some big swims in Thursday’s Class 1 preliminaries at the St. Peters Rec-Plex to help set themselves up nicely heading into Friday morning’s finals.
“We had a great day,” Clayton coach Katelyn Long said. “We just continue to improve even after having a really good conference (meet). I was excited to see some more time drops (Thursday). Not that it was unexpected, but it was a really nice thing to see.”
The Greyhounds advanced a Class 1-best eight swimmers into the top-eight finals. Parkway West and Cape Girardeau Central were the next closest with five, while Ladue, Villa Duchesne and Lebanon will each have four swimmers in the finals.
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“We put ourselves in good position. We had a lot of swimmers step up to get into consoles heats,” Long said. “That was our game plan to get as many top-eight finishes and as many consols finishes as we possibly could get in.
Area swimmers clean up nicely
A total of 38 area swimmers advanced to the top-eight finals with 14 of them making it there in both of their individual events.
Clayton led the way with four different swimmers finishing in the top eight twice in the prelims — Kuhlmann (second in the 100-yard backstroke and eighth in the 200 freestyle), fellow senior Anna Stouffer (fourth in the 100 free and sixth in the 200 free), junior Emma Welch (fourth in the 100 back and fifth in the 200 individual medley) and freshman Ema Stojicevic (fifth in the 500 free and sixth in the 200 IM).
“There was a lot of nerves going into today. I think everyone was really nervous, but we’re really happy with how everyone placed,” Welch said. “I think this is probably gonna be our best year at state we’ve ever had. My freshman year, we took third (a program-best finish) and there’s a really good chance we could take second.”
Freshman frenzy
Stojicevic was among several area freshmen who rose to the occasion in the Class 1 prelims.
“She has such a great attitude and she’s happy to be here,” Long said. “We have 11 seniors on our team this year and it’s nice to bring in some younger athletes when you have such strong leadership like that.”
Stojicevic and Mehlville’s Lily Kohler (fourth in both the 200 and 500 frees) were the only freshmen to advance to two top-eight finals, while two others also made it through to championship finals — Visitation’s Madelyn Mug (sixth in the 100 back) and Lutheran South’s Aubrey Yancey (seventh in the 100 butterfly).
“It’s really nice. I’m really happy for everyone,” Stojicevic said. “I’m really excited to go into tomorrow and see what I can do in the finals. And I’m really excited to see how everyone is gonna do tomorrow.”
Villa Duchesne’s Grace Kraeger competes in the 100-yard backstroke during the preliminaries of the Girls Class 1 Swimming and Diving championship meet on February 15, 2024 at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Mo. Paul Halfacre, Post-Dispatch
Villa’s Kraeger shines
Of the 14 area swimmers to advance to two top-eight finals, only one will be swimming as the top seed in both of her events.
Villa junior Grace Kraeger posted the top prelim time in both the 200 free and 100 back on Thursday.
“I mean, how smooth does she look in the water?” Saints coach Rob Hill said. “When she’s tapered and on her game, it’s a thing of beauty. She took time off both of her events (Thursday). It’s gonna look good (Friday), too.”
Bezzant shakes off sluggishness
Ladue senior standout Mary Bezzant is the defending Class 1 champion in the 100 breaststroke and was the 2022 Class 1 champ and 2023 runner-up in the 200 IM.
She entered the prelims as the top seed in both events, but she qualified first in just one.
Bezzant posted the top time in the 100 breast, but was second to Villa sophomore Charlotte Brown in the 200 IM.
“I’m really bummed about my 200 IM. I’m a little congested and my voice is a little gone right now, so I wasn’t feeling the best,” Bezzant said. “I feel pretty good (about the 100 breast). I definitely was going for more of like a prelim swim (Thursday). I didn’t want to quite go all out because I have some pretty big goals for (the finals).”
Bezzant did qualify first in another race as she teamed with senior Lillian Hsieh and juniors Lily Ta and Margaret Willmann to post the top time in the 200 medley relay.
“We’ve been working really hard on that relay, so it was exciting,” Bezzant said.
Up next
The Class 1 girls swimming finals will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at the Rec-Plex, with the Class 2 prelims scheduled to go later at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
“We did what we needed to do today and we’re just gonna have fun (Friday),” Long said. “Just step up and not worry about times, just worry about placing high. It usually works out.”
