By: Jason Peake
As the final event of the Central Ozark Conference Swimming and Diving Championships began on Tuesday night, the scenario was simple for the Webb City Cardinals and Carl Junction Bulldogs.
For the close rivals, the 400-yard freestyle relay would decide the conference championship. Ina thrilling conclusion, it was the host Cardinals who finished strong.
Webb City won the last event of the evening to claim the championship at the COC Meet at the Buck Miner Swim Center.
Webb City's 400 free relay team of Skylar Powell, Camryn Klosterman, Avery Mitchell and Sophia Whitesell took first place in 3 minutes, 53 seconds. The Cardinals won the event after being seeded fifth.
"I about threw up," Webb City coach Shawn Klosterman said of watching the final race play out. "Honestly, I was expecting a really big swim and then still being second. It was really fun to watch. It was very exciting. It was pretty cool to see. It was just miraculous that it came down to the last relay."
With the late push, Webb City finished with 293 points, while Carl Junction had 289.5.
"It's hard to believe actually," Coach Klosterman said of claiming the COC crown. "Carl Junction has so much state-level power. I knew the only way we could do it was with depth and diving. Carl Junction had some big swims and we were just trying to match them the whole way.
"We looked at the psych sheets and we tried to calculate all the scores throughout the meet," Klosterman added. "We figured where we should be, and when we got three divers to score, we thought the meet would be dead even between the two teams. I was actually tracking who was out-performing their seeds the whole way. It looked like Carl Junction was out-performing their seeds all the way up to the 500 free. I still thought we had a shot. They went from fifth to first in the 200 free relay, which was huge. But we kind of held on until the last relay."
After 11 events, Carl Junction held a slim lead over the Cardinals for the top spot in the standings. The Bulldogs finished fourth in the final event.
"If we were second in that last relay, it still wouldn't have been enough unless Carl was all the way back in sixth place, which was pretty unlikely," Klosterman noted. "So the only way to win the meet was winning that last relay. I was astonished we did."
The Bulldogs were attempting to win the meet for a third straight season. This year, Carl Junction settled for second place.
"We have to chase Webb after diving every year," Bulldogs coach Stephanie Miller said. "They went 1-2-3 in diving and we had to come from behind. But to end up just a few points behind, I'm thrilled. There were pool records set here and the COC is phenomenal. I gave out more medals to my girls tonight than I can count. We just came up a few points short. I'm really proud of my girls and I love the girls from Webb. I'm happy for them."
WEBB CITY HIGHLIGHTS
In a great start to the meet, Webb City went 1-2-3 in the 1-meter diving competition. Mia Barone was the champ, with Kelli Tollefson second and Breanna Woods third.
"Diving is always an advantage for us, but all of our girls had zero experience before this year," Klosterman said. "Getting them ready for this one was important. It's amazing they got there."
In addition to winning the 400 freestyle relay, Webb City placed second in the 200 medley relay in 2:02, with Klosterman, Makenzie Storm, Whitesell and Ella Holt competing.
The 200 freestyle relay finished third, with Powell, Hally Philpot, Holt and Mitchell swimming.
The Cardinals received solid contributions from a number of athletes.
A junior, Whitesell won the 500 freestyle in 5:33 and was the runner-up in the 200 individual medley (2:18).
A senior, Storm was the runner-up in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:14.
Powell placed third in the 100 freestyle and took fourth in the 50 free. Klosterman placed fourth in the 100 butterfly and was fifth in the 200 IM, while Mitchell placed fourth in the 100 free and fifth in the 50 free.
Alix Davis finished sixth in the 100 backstroke and Philpot took sixth in the 100 breaststroke.
COC Swimming & Diving Championships
Final team scores: Webb City 293, Carl Junction 289.5, Ozark 190, Carthage 157, Nixa 141.5, Joplin 93, Republic 57.