The West Plains Lady Zizzer Swim Team improved to 18-2 in dual meets this season by going 6-0 on Tuesday, January 3 with wins over Camdenton (129-18), Lebanon (100-61), Waynesville (126-39), Marshfield (128-30), Monett (114-49), and Seymour (130-18).
It was a great meet to start the new year. The Lady Zizzers were led by Freshman standout Roz Fiorino who swam to two victories in the 100 yard Butterfly and 100 yard Backstroke. Junior Co-Captains Paige Sheridan and Addie Peugh along with Abbie Peugh led a team sweep of the 100 yard Freestyle taking the top three spots with Sheridan lowering her State qualifying time.
Evie Niesen took the win and improved her State qualifying time in the 200 yard Freestyle. The other win on the evening was claimed by the 400 yard Freestyle Relay of Sheridan, Ad. Peugh, Fiorino, and Niesen when they swam to victory by over 25 seconds.
The 200 Medley Relay of Ab. Peugh, Sheridan, Fiorino, and Trinity Wake finished 2nd. T. Wake also took 2nd in the 200 yard Freestyle behind Niesen. Lilli Wake finished 3rd in the 200 yard Individual Medley. Sheridan and Ad. Peugh went 2-3 in the 50 yard Freestyle with Sheridan lowering her State qualifying time.
Audrey Land finished 3rd in the 100 yard Butterfly and T. Wake and Penelope Autry went 2-3 in the 500 yard Freestyle, both going season’s best times. The 200 yard Freestyle Relay of Niesen, Ab. Peugh, Land, and Ad. Peugh finished 2nd with Niesen improving her 50 yard Freestyle State qualifying time in the process. Niesen then finished 3rd in the 100 yard Backstroke as did Land in the 100 yard Breaststroke.
Along with the Lady Zizzers earning top honors in the 400 yard Freestyle Relay, they also claimed 3rd place in the event with Lily York, Autry, L. Wake, and T. Wake.
“This continued success is impressive at each meet,” commented Head Coach Ryan Smith. “The girls continue to put in the hard work in practice. For having such a young team without any seniors, these girls are still proving they are ready to compete and are ready for the challenges ahead of us with championship meets just a few weeks away.”
Then, the Lady Zizzers traveled to Springfield to compete in the Ozarks Invitational at the Foster Natatorium. There were 31 teams and 399 athletes from around the state. Even though there were 19 teams larger than the Lady Zizzers, they outswam all but one, finishing Runner-Up to Ozark High School.
The 200 yard Medley Relay of Ab. Peugh (34.00), Autry (37.04), Land (32.41), and T. Wake (29.23) got the scoring started by finishing 11th in a time of 2:12.68.
The 200 yard Freestyle saw the first win and school record of the day. Paige Sheridan went stroke for stroke with Madison Riley of Carthage for the entire four-lap event and surged in the last 8 yards to out touch Riley at the wall in a winning time and new school record of 1:58.99. Audrey Land added to the scoring, going a best time of 2:25.46 and finishing 16th place. Lilli Wake (2:31.62) finished 22nd and Lily York (2:37.57) finished 29th.
In the 200 yard Individual Medley, all three Lady Zizzers scored with Roz Fiorino (2:27.01) leading the way with a 5th place medal. Addie Peugh (2:30.63) barely missed a State qualifying cut finishing 9th place. Penelope Autry (2:38.87) rounded out the scoring with a 14th place finish.
The 50 yard Freestyle saw two season’s best times by Land (28.24) and Trinity Wake (28.55) finishing 19th and 24th respectively. Evie Niesen led the way for the Lady Zizzers in the 100 yard Freestyle finishing with a 4th place medal in a season’s best 57.09. Fiorino (58.62) and T. Wake (1:03.78) also added to the scoring by finishing 8th and 16th. L. Wake (1:09.12) finished 36th.
The Lady Zizzers have become known as a great distance swimming team. Not only was that showcased in the 200 yard Freestyle and 200 yard Individual Medley, it also was showcased in the longest race of the day, the 500 yard Freestyle. Once again, Sheridan took home the win in a new school record of 5:17.01 and won the event by more than 18 seconds. The Peugh sisters both went season’s best times with Addie (5:56.05) finishing 9th and Abbie (6:18.10) finishing 12th. Aubrey Gross (7:17.24) went a season’s best, as well, earning 26th Place.
The 200 yard Freestyle Relay of Niesen (27.00), Fiorino (26.31), Ad. Peugh (27.48), and Sheridan (26.20) almost swam to victory but were nicked at the finish by 13 one-hundreths of a second by Lebanon’s anchor Missy Mizell, one of the top sprinters in the state. Their second place finish was an impressive school record of 1:46.99.
Autry (1:10.44) led the scoring for the Lady Zizzers in the 100 yard Backstroke finishing 10th followed by Ab. Peugh (1:12.62) finishing 13th. York (1:26.19) added a 47th place finish with a season’s best time, as well. Niesen (1:14.75) added a 5th place medal in the 100 yard Breaststroke, barely missing her school record by 8 one-hundredths of a second. Gross (1:29.73) finished 30th place.
The meet ended after a long seven-and-a-half hours with the 400 Freestyle Relay of Sheridan (57.24), Ad. Peugh (58.18), Fiorino (57.57), and Niesen (58.03). These four ladies swam away from the competition of Ozark and Carl Junction. They won the final event in a school record 3:51.02 breaking the record set last year by five seconds.
The Lady Zizzers tallied 219 points on the day only trailing Ozark’s 233 and ahead of 3rd place Carl Junction with 187.
“Today was one of the most exciting days for Lady Zizzer Swimming!” said an excited Head Coach Ryan Smith. “The girls were pumped for each race and to see the excitement after wins, school records, and best times was what made the day great.”
The Lady Zizzer Swim program had never previously finished higher than 7th at a meet with more than 15 teams. The Lady Zizzers are at Poplar Bluff Tuesday, January 10 and then host their First Annual Lady Zizzer Invitational on Saturday, January 14 at 1:00 pm at the West Plains Civic Center. Come on out and see these impressive swimmers in action!
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- Penelope Autry prepares to lead off the 200 Medley Relay at the Seymour Meet.
- Lady Zizzers celebrate their Runner-Up finish at the Ozarks Invitational (Front Row L-R: Penelope Autry, Audrey Land, Abbie Peugh, Trinity Wake, Paige Sheridan, Evie Niesen. Back Row L-R: Lilli Wake, Addie Peugh, Lily York, Roz Fiorino)
- Evie Niesen (in the water) celebrates with Addie Peugh and teammates, Roz Fiorino and Paige Sheridan after winning the last race of the day, the 400 yard Freestyle Relay, in a school record 3:51.02.
