Preview 2011 Girls' State Swim Championships

The girls state swim championships, scheduled for this weekend at the Rec Plex in St. Peters is both a team and individual competition. Both matter. Teams will try and load up talent to pick up bonus points in the point-rich relays.

The Ladue-Patch area will be well represented by the depth of St. Joseph’s Academy and the individual talent from Villa Duchesne, MICDS, Ladue and Burroughs.

The St. Joe Angels won last week’s MWAA championships for the ninth time in 10 years without having any single swimmer get to the finish line first. The Angels count on team depth, especially in the relays to score points.

By tradition, team competion is dominated by teams in far west St. Louis County (Lafayette and Marquette); Kansas City (Blue Springs West) and Springfield (Glendale). There probably won’t be many surprises in the quest for a team title.

But for individuals, that’s a different story. For a viewers guide, keep your eye on Morgan Mullenix and Bentley Boldt of Villa; Annie Goessling and Masha Podokshik from MICDS; Ladue’s senior Maddie Wall and junior Etinosa Ogbevoen and Burroughs’ junior Madison Qualy. Sarah Sutherlin of Villa might too get into the point mix too.

Mullenix has had a breakout season and Corrine Murphy’s Lady Saints lost just one duel meet this year, that to St. Joe’s.

"The group of swimmers we qualified for state are going to make a lot of noise. I see Morgan (Mullenix) and Bentley (Boldt) both finishing top eight. Sarah Sutherlin could sneak in there too," said their coach Corinne Murphy.

Mullenix should be in the middle of the starting blocks with a 50 freestyle time of 24.69 and a 100 free in 54:67. She will also swim a leg on the 200 and 400 yard freestyle relays. Boldt qualified for state with a 50 free time of 25:03 and a 100 buterfly time of 1:00.81. She is on the two freestyle relays also.

Sutherlin will represent Villa in the 100 yard butterfly (1:04.30) and the 100 yard back. She’s the third member of the two freestyle relays.

Goessling’s best event is the 200 yard individual medley. She qualified for the semifinals with a sparkling 2:10.06 versus St. Joe’s this year. She will be in the 100 yard breaststroke, qualifying in 1:08.8, done at this year’s MWAA championships. She will be on the Lady Rams 200 and 400 yard freestyle relays.

“Annie is oneof the toughest, most versatile kids I’ve ever seen,” said her coach Kristen Kaiser. “She has a passion for this sport and for life that is infectious. I am really looking forward to watching all her hard work pay off.”

Podokshik will swim the 100 freestyle (56.7) and the 200 freestyle (2:02.01) at state. She’s also on both the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. “Masha is now swimming with a herniated disc in her back and missed a few weeks of training. She’s kept her head up and swam quite well at MWAA’s. We are looking forward to seeing what she can do at state,” said Kaiser.

Wall and Ogbevoen have been two rays of sunshine for the Eudals of Ladue. Wall won the Suburban South and West Conference 200 yard freestyle title with a time of 1:53.97.  Wall will swim the 100 yard butterfly, the 200 IM’s and two relays in the semifinals.

Ogbevoen captured first in the conference meet in the 50 freestyle (24.29) and first in the 100 freestyle in 53:49.  She too will swim both freestyle relays.

Newcomer, freshman Riley Merdinian qualified for Ladue in the 100 yard backstroke and will be part of all three relays.

Qualy will represent Burroughs in the in the 200 IMs, taking second at the MWAA meet in a time of 2:18.62. She will also compete in the 100 yard breaststroke.

St. Joe’s best individual hopes should come from Grace Stiegemeyer and Julia Herbig.

Though the team trophy won’t be coming from Ladue and Frontenac, a lot of individual medals might be harvested this weekend.