“It was a super fast meet, and I think we did O.K. considering the circumstances,” Steger said. “We had some really good finishes.”
The top finishes included senior Bri Noltie placing third in the 100 m breaststroke, senior Kate Walker placing fifth in the 100 m butterfly and sophomore Kortney Betz placing sixth in the 100 m free. A team consisting of Noltie, Walker, sophomore Madeline Simon and Betz also placed fourth in the 200 m medley relay.
Missing from Saturday’s competition were freshman Libby Walker, sophomores Chelsea Tatlow, Hanna Flanagan and Lily Salzer, and junior Catie Rodriguez. These swimmers were participating in a club swim meet in Clearwater Florida for the weekend. Because high schools in America competes with short course events, the club swim meet offered the girls a chance to swim longer distances – 50 meters instead of the 25 yards in high school meets – and experience for an Olympic-style competition.
Steger said although the team finished lower than it would have liked, the members were still able to learn from the meet.
“We have a better idea of what we are up against at state,” Steger said, “because this was mostly St. Louis teams and we’ve never seen them,” before.
The Bruins are in action again Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Springfield Invitational in Springfield, Mo.
By Thomas Jamieson-Lucy
