ST. PETERS • While it wasn't exactly the overall win, MICDS senior Annie Goessling will take it.
Goessling and her Rams' teammates came up big in the final three events of the 37th annual MSHSAA Swimming Championships at the Rec-Plex to place third as a team.
"We placed third my sophomore year and it was the best feeling in the world," Goessling said. "Coming back in my final year and winning (the 100-yard breaststroke in 1 minute, 5.51 seconds) was amazing after finishing second the last three years."
Fueled by Goessling's individual win, MICDS placed third at the meet with 160 points. Rock Bride won the state team title with 213 points while Springfield Glendale was second with 182 points. Parkway North was the final team on the trophy stand, finishing fourth with 148 points.
To see her team break into the top four and claim a state trophy after a near miss in 2011 was a thrill for MICDS coach Kristen Kaiser.
"I could not have asked for much more out of the girls," Kaiser said. "We had our sights set on trying to win the whole thing. We fell short of that, but we wanted to shoot for the stars and to be (the top St. Louis team) is special."
Parkway North junior Heather Lundstrom was the only swimmer to set a state record. She set the state mark in the 100 butterfly (54.51 seconds).
Lundstrom also won the state title in the 200 individual medley (2:03.72).
"I just looked up at the board when the race was over and saw I had it," Lundstrom said of her state record. "I was going after this, and I am glad I got it. This is really cool."
The other dual winner from the St. Louis area was Parkway West's Kate Gately, a champ in the 50 freestyle (23.33 seconds) and 100 freestyle (51.69).
"I wish I would have gotten the state record (in the 50 freestyle), but it is a school record so that feels good," Gately said. "I did everything I could in that, I was kicking hard and I gave it all I had. It feels good to win two."
The other local individual winner was Summit senior Megan Popp. She won the 500 freestyle (4:59.33) after qualifying fourth for the final.
"My goal going in was to go hard, push myself as much as possible and stay strong," Popp said. "My strategy was to take it out as hard as possible and hold on to it."
The three other wins by St. Louis area swimmers came on two relays and in the diving competition.
St. Joseph's won the 200 free relay (1:38.22) and Zumwalt West won the 200 medley relay (1:48.93) while Zumwalt West freshman Marissa Green won the diving competition (435.90 points) as she won the event on her last dive.
"I put a safety dive in last because it's one I usually hit," Green said. "I knew it had to be really, really good. I felt like the dive could have been better, but it was enough."
