ST. PETERS • Last season, both the Parkway West and Parkway North girls swim teams took spots on the podium for their performances, with West winning the state title and North finishing fourth.
Both programs, behind strong individual efforts, are in position to be there again Saturday when the 37th annual MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championship finals commence at the Rec-Plex.
"Our team is doing really well this year, and I just want to be a part of that," Parkway North's Heather Lundstrom said. "I really try not to think too much about (the finals). I just know I need to go out and swim my best."
Both West's Kate Gately and Lundstrom finished strong Friday and qualified first in a pair of individual events.
Gately was the top qualifier in the 50-yard freestyle (23.71 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (51.72), while Lundstrom registered the fastest qualifying times in the 200 IM (2 minutes 5.50 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (55.33).
"It feels great," Gately said. "I have worked really hard, and now I just have to remain level-headed going into the finals tomorrow. I have to keep it all in perspective, because anything can happen when you get to the finals."
Other top local qualifiers Friday included Ladue senior Madeline Wall in the 500 freestyle (5:00.00) and Parkway Central's Ally Neumann in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.07).
The top local relay team came from Fort Zumwalt West, where the 200-yard medley relay of Kayla Grimm, Aly Coleman, Courtney Coe and Evyn Spencer opened the preliminaries by winning their event (1:49.32).
"They're wanting to defend their title from last year," Zumwalt West coach Jeri LaBrot said. "The loss of five-time state champion Michelle Tipton was a big hit to the team. (Having moved) some people around, and (with) the addition of Kayla Grimm, we're definitely ready for tomorrow and we hope to keep the title."
Other top qualifying times for the finals Saturday included Rock Bridge's Chelsey Tatlow (1:51.18 in the 200 free and 56.82 in the 100 backstroke) and the Glendale 200 (1:39.42) and 400 (3:30.84) relay teams.
The championship final will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the state diving competition, which will be followed at 3 p.m. by the swimming championships.
