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Girls State Swim Meet: One More Look Back

MICDS, St. Joe & Burroughs finish strong; rebuild for the future.

This is just one final look back at the 38th annual girls swim championships at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters. This of course, was a spectacular meet, in particular for Burroughs freshman Maddie Wessell; senior Trey Ross of MICDS and junior Grace Stiegemeyer of St. Joseph's Academy. All three programs return a number of swimmers, assuring they will be competitive next season. The Ladue, Frontenac and Olivette Patches will present the West County Swim Stars in two weeks. Enjoy one more look back at the action in the pool last weekend.

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Burroughs Heads the Pack of Local Teams at the State Swim Meet This Weekend

Freshman Maddie Wessell has the top times in the area in 3 events. MICDS looks to be strong in the relays along with St. Joe.

Local swimming has its ebbs and flow. Last year with Morgan Mullenix and Bentley Boldt representing Villa Duchesne and with Annie Goessling piling up the points for MICDS, both teams had top 10 finishes. That possibly won't be the case this year. All of the local teams are rebuilding. Some have just one qualifier. One team showing marked improvement is John Burroughs, much in part to sensational freshman Maddie Wessell. The Bombers just might crash the leader board for team scores this time. Here’s how the locals are shaping up for the semifinals Friday and the championship of the annual state tournament at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters Saturday. John Burroughs For the first time in eons, the Bombers will be a possible top-10 contender. And …

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Maddie Wessell, Burroughs Swim; MVP for Week No. 6

Freshman has some of the fastest times in the state of Missouri this year.

Maddie Wessell, freshman swimmer at John Burroughs is the MVP Athlete of the Week this week. She narrowly edged out Jimmy Carney, a senior basketball player, also of Burroughs.  This is what she told to Patch. Ladue-Frontenac Patch: College is a long way off but swimmers like to be planning ahead. Any ideas?  Maddie Wessell: I am only a freshman but my aspiration is to attend Stanford or Cal Berkeley. Patch: How is your season going so far? MW: Our season is going pretty well.  JBS girls swimming is well positioned in several events heading into state finals in two weeks. I also compete with FAST Swim Club in South County and will be competing in Sectionals in Tulsa, OK and NCSA Junior Nationals in Orlando, FL.  Coach Leslie Kehr from JBS …

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The Baer Facts

Nothing Quite Like The Highly Competitive Sport Of Girls' Swimming

Nothing left behind on the pool deck at the Rec Plex in St. Peter's.

My introduction to competitive swimming goes back to the 1984 Olympics. I was lucky enough to cover those games for KMOX Radio and the Suburban Journals in Los Angeles. Swimming was outdoors at the McDonald’s complex at the University of Southern California. They literally dropped a temporary stadium onto the campus, across the street from the Coliseum. Days after the games ended, the stadium was gone forever. Stars like Rowdy Gaines, Pablo Morales, Mary T. Meagher, Tracey Caulkins and Dana Torres established the U.S. as the greatest team in international competition in a very long time. In 1987, the Pan American games were held in Indianapolis. Barbara Barber of Kirkwood had four daughters in Kirkwood schools and by necessity, operated …

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James Baer

9:34 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Final votes in. 102 votes, 53 to Julia Herbeg from St. Joe, 56 percent of the vote. The top point getter.   more ›

Raytown, Blue Springs Look to Score at State Swim Meet

How the Kansas City Star looks at 37th annual meet in St. Peters.