The West Plains Lady Zizzers are your 2023 Ozark Conference Swimming Champions! The 11 Lady Zizzer swimmers scored in every swim and medaled in 18 swims at the meet Monday evening at the John H. Foster Natatorium in Springfield. They amassed 295 points to better conference foes Glendale (240), Central (198), Kickapoo (194), Lebanon (147), Bolivar (71), Waynesville (60), Hillcrest (52), Camdenton (23), and Parkview (18). This is the first conference championship for Zizzer Swimming in its ninth year as a program.
Junior Co-Captain Addie Peugh was “proud of the team and how hard we’ve all worked to achieve this huge win. A couple of years ago, winning conference was almost an unthinkable goal, so to see all of us working together to go above and beyond to finally be conference champions is just incredible.”
The meet was highlighted by 4 wins which included All-Conference First Team honors, 3 runner-up finishes which included All-Conference Second Team honors, and 11 other top 6 podium finishes which included All-Conference Honorable Mention honors.
“In a sport that is very individual, the relays are sometimes the best races and most exciting races,” said an excited Head Coach Ryan Smith.
They got the meet started with a 4th place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Abbie Peugh led off in the backstroke in 33.33. Penelope Autry followed in the breaststroke with a best time of 35.56. Audrey Land went next in the butterfly with a best time of 32.01. Trinity Wake anchored with freestyle in a season’s best 27.37.
The Lady Zizzers won the 200 Freestyle Relay over Central in a new school record of 1:44.83 dropping more than 2 seconds off of the previous record set a few weeks ago. Roz Fiorino led the relay off in a best time of 25.77. Evie Niesen followed with a season’s best 26.27. Addie Peugh went third in a season’s best 27.24, and Paige Sheridan anchored in a season’s best 25.55.
The same foursome then ended the meet winning the 400 Freestyle Relay by 18 seconds over the nearest team Glendale and setting a new school record of 3:49.13. Sheridan led it off in a best time and new school record of 55.76. She was followed by Ad. Peugh going 59.55. Fiorino went third in a new best time of 56.50. Niesen anchored the team to victory in 57.32.
“Winning both the 200 and 400 [free] relays shows the depth of our team and the potential for winning larger meets in the future,” commented Junior Co-Captain Paige Sheridan. “It was great to see our entire team stepping up and earning points in each event.”
The following Lady Zizzer Freshman may not have medaled, but they added valuable points that helped the team pull off this historic win.
Lily York swam to incredible best times in both the 200 yard Individual Medley and 500 yard Freestyle. She dropped 8 seconds in the 200 IM (2:58.16) finishing 9th place. She added an 11th place finish in the 500 Free (6:55.89) by dropping 14 seconds.
Lilli Wake almost reached the medal podium in the 200 yard Individual Medley finishing 7th while going a best time of 2:55.25. She then placed 12th in the 100 yard Freestyle in 1:08.43.
Aubrey Gross finished 10th place twice in the meet. The first was in the 100 yard Butterfly swimming to a best time of 1:27.97 which was a 7 second drop. The second was in the 100 yard Breaststroke going 1:28.45.
The Lady Zizzers continue their season this Saturday at the Springfield Invitational at the John H. Foster Natatorium at 1:30 pm. This is one of the premier meets in the state and will be a great test for the Lady Zizzers.
Pictured:
- Junior Paige Sheridan earned First Team All-Conference honors in all events. She won the 200 yard Freestyle in 1:59.75 and the 500 yard Freestyle in 5:18.18. She was also a member of both the 200 and 400 yard Freestyle Relays that claimed the top spot. The final relay included her new school record in the 100 yard Freestyle.
- Sophomore Evie Niesen earned First Team All-Conference honors as a member of the victorious 200 and 400 yard Freestyle Relays. She added a Second Team nod in the 100 yard Breaststroke with her 2nd place finish and a new school record of 1:13.92. She also earned an Honorable Mention recognition for a 3rd place finish in the 100 yard Freestyle.
- Junior Addie Peugh earned First Team All-Conference honors as a member of the winning 200 and 400 yard Freestyle Relays. She added a Second Team honor in the 200 yard Individual Medley finishing 2nd and an Honorable Mention nod in the 500 yard Freestyle finishing 3rd.
- Freshman Roz Fiorino earned First Team All-Conference honors as a member of the winning 200 and 400 yard Freestyle Relays. She earned Second Team honors in the 100 yard Backstroke and Honorable Mention in the 200 yard Freestyle. She was able to claim best times in every event on the evening.
- Freshman Penelope Autry earned two Honorable Mention honors with a 3rd place finish in both the 200 yard Individual Medley and the 100 yard Breaststroke.
- Junior Abbie Peugh earned two Honorable Mention honors with two 5th place finishes in the 200 yard Freestyle and the 100 yard Backstroke. She swam to best times in both of her swims.
- Sophomore Audrey Land earned two Honorable Mention honors with a 5th place finish in the 50 yard Freestyle going a best time and a 6th place finish in the 100 yard Butterfly.
- Junior Trinity Wake earned two Honorable Mention honors with a 5th place finish in the 500 yard Freestyle and a 6th place finish in the 200 yard Freestyle. Both events earned her season’s best times, as well.
- The West Plains Lady Zizzers Swim Team celebrates their first ever Ozark Conference Championship on the podium at the John H. Foster Natatorium in Springfield, MO. (Front Row: Team Manager Ethan Squires; Second Row L-R: Head Coach Ryan Smith, Aubrey Gross, Penelope Autry, Addie Peugh, Evie Niesen, Roz Fiorino, Lily Wake, Assistant Coach Cassidy Lapham; Back Row L-R: Audrey Land, Abbie Peugh, Trinity Wake, Lilli Wake, Paige Sheridan)
