Utah Recruit Reagan Cathcart Breaks Missouri HS Class II Record in 50 Free

MSHSAA Girls State Championships – Class 2

• Swimming and Diving
• February 21st-22nd, 2020
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TOP 5 TEAM SCORES

1. Marquette – 242
2. Kirkwood – 237
3. Eureka – 220
4. Rock Bridge – 159
5. Liberty North – 144

Marquette High School took the Missouri High School girls state title home this past weekend, winning a tight team battle with Kirkwood and Eureka. Marquette won a single event at the meet, the 200 free relay. Sophomore Carsyn Cosman led the relay off in 24.50, and was followed by junior Haley Hume (24.59), sophomore Maya Esparza (25.13), and senior Amanda Yu (23.81), finishing in a final time of 1:38.03. The squad narrowly led Liberty HS, who finished in 1:38.45. Marquette had opened up a lead on the front half of the race, but Liberty’s 3rd leg, senior Christina Rangel, split 24.64 to put her squad right back in the race.

Of the members of the Marquette relay, Carsyn Cosman led the way individually. Cosmon came in 3rd in the 200 free, swimming a 1:53.36 for a new personal best. She went on to take 6th in the 100 free with a 52.69, coming in just off her personal best of 52.39. Amanda Yu swam a 24.24 to take 6th in the 50 free after swimming 24.17 in prelims. She went on to take 4th in the 100 fly, swimming a 57.49 after clocking a 57.05 in prelims.

It was Kirkwood High School that won the most events at the meet, taking 4 individuals and 1 relay. Kirkwood won the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:47.73. Junior Paige Howell led the Kirkwood relay off in 27.76, with sophomore Alyssa Dennis going next in 30.03, then junior Ella Pearl swam a 25.42, and Aliya Swearngin anchored in 24.52. The only stroke where Kirkwood led the field was breaststroke, where Dennis actually tied for the fastest split with Marquette junior Hailey Benting, with both swimmers splitting 30.03.

Ella Pearl was back in action for Kirkwood in the 200 IM, winning the race with a 2:05.30. The swim marked a lifetime best for Pearl, who took the title after finishing in 2nd with a 2:06.30 last year. Pearl went on to break her own MSHSAA Class II state record in the 100 back, swimming a 55.78 to win the race. Pearl won the race for a second year in a row, bettering her winning time of 55.83, which stood as the Class II record.

From the medley relay, Alyssa Dennis was also a double event winner, taking the 100 fly and 100 breast. The sophomore won the 100 fly with a 56.58, narrowly beating out Parkway South freshman Kylee Sullivan (56.71). Dennis opened up a big lead early in the race, splitting 25.90 on the first 5o, compared to 26.49 for Sullivan. Sullivan came home faster, swimming 30.22 on the final 50 to Dennis’ 30.68. Dennis was off her personal best of 56.24. Dennis went on to win the 100 breast with a 1:05.52, establishing a new personal best. She won yet another tight race here, touching just ahead of Blue Springs’ Annemarie Rehbein (1:05.64) and Marquette’s Hailey Benting (1:05.71). The trio swam very similar races, but it was Dennis that led through the 50, splitting 30.56 to Rehbein’s 30.69 and Benting’s 30.79.

Francis Howell claimed 2 event victories, with Joanna Dohrman winning the 500 and Reagan Cathcart winning the 50 free. Dohrman, a senior, swam a 4:59.65, touching first by 8 seconds. She got out to a quick start, splitting 56.23 on the first 100 of the race. The Johns Hopkins recruit swam a personal best with that race. Reagan Cathcart, also a senior and a Utah commit, swam a 23.33 to win the 50 free, breaking the MSHSAA Class II record with the swim. The swim was not a personal best, however, as Cathcart’s top mark stands at 23.15 from March of 2019.

Cathcart went on to place 3rd in the 100 free, swimming a 51.66, which also comes in off her personal best of 51.30. Lafayette (Wildwood) senior Claire Vanbiljon finished 2nd in the race (51.54), while Fort Zumwalt West senior Courtney Harris won with a 50.96. Harris, a university of Houston recruit, was ever so slightly off her lifetime best mark of 50.93 with the swim, and was narrowly off the Class II record of 50.82. Harris’ 50.93 personal best was swum to win the event at this meet last year.

Cor Jesu Academy won the sophomore Anna Moehn won the 200 free with a 1:51.72, marking a new lifetime best. Moehn came in 4th in the race last year with a 1:56.78. Rock bridge won the 400 free relay, with junior Elise Henderson (54.63), junior Olivia Henderson (53.17), senior Ansley Barnes (53.07), and junior Mara Manion (51.63) teamed up to swim a 3:32.50, tpouching first by over a second. Rock Bridge were the defending champions in the event, having swum a 3:31.98 for victory last year.

Staley senior Ella McMahon was dominant in 1 meter diving, tallying up a total score of 474.00 to best the field by 61 points.