West Plains Lady Zizzers swam to back-to-back Ozark Conference Championships Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at the John H Foster Natatorium in Springfield. The meet was hosted by Central High School and featured 10 of the 11 Ozark Conference Schools in the final year of the conference.
Senior Co-Captain Paige Sheridan led the Lady Zizzers in their defense of their Conference Championship from a year ago. She tallied 2 first place finishes in the 200 Freestyle (2:02.15) and the 500 Freestyle (5:27.69). The Lady Zizzers also took home 2 championship wins in the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relays. The 200 Freestyle Relay of Roslyn Fiorino, Evie Niesen, Riley Spurling, and Sheridan won in a time of 1:45.55. The 400 Freestyle Relay of Sheridan, Abigail Peugh, Addison Peugh, and Fiorino took the gold medal in a time of 3:57.66.
Every Lady Zizzer participated in the scoring, which speaks to the depth of the 2023-24 team. They distanced themselves from the rest of the conference as the meet progressed finishing with 318 points, 67 points ahead of the next best team, Glendale (251), who passed Kickapoo (241) in the last couple of events to take 2nd.
The meet began with a 4th place finish by the 200 Medley Relay (2:02.45) of Ad. Peugh, Niesen, Spurling, and Ab. Peugh. This would be the only time the team trailed in total points for the night. With Sheridan’s win in the second event, the 200 Freestyle, followed by a 2nd place finish by Senior Riley Spurling (2:09.51) and two others scoring points in Sophomore Lilliahna Wake (2:24.16 – 9th) and Freshman Brylee Barnes (2:24.32 – 10th), the Lady Zizzers jumped into the lead and never looked back.
Senior Co-Captain Addison Peugh earned a 3-4 finish in the 200 Individual Medley (2:29.28) with Sophomore Penelope Autry (2:33.33). Sophomore Emily Ritter added points with her 8th place finish (2:51.01). Sophomore Roslyn Fiorino (26.21) and Junior Evie Niesen (26.28) also swam to a 3-4 finish in the 50 Freestyle with Junior Audrey Land adding points in 10th (27.81).
Spurling added a second individual medal to her night with a 3rd place finish in the 100 Butterfly (1:03.40), an event that also saw Land on the podium in 6th place (1:13.23), and Sophomores Aubrey Gross and Hannah Call adding points in 9th place (1:22.29) and 12th place (1:25.66), respectively. Niesen and Fiorino had another good battle in a sprint freestyle event, the 100 Freestyle, as they have had multiple times this year. Niesen (57.06) got the better of Fiorino (58.68) this time as the pair finished 2nd and 3rd.
With Sheridan taking home her second individual conference championship in the 500 Freestyle, Ad. Peugh (5:54.43) made it a 1-2 finish, while Senior Abbie Peugh (6:11.30) also earned a podium spot in 6th place, and Barnes (6:31.29) added points in 9th place.
After the 200 Freestyle Relay got their win, Ab. Peugh (1:09.50), Wake (1:17.54), and Ritter (1:18.50) all medaled finishing 4-5-6 in the 100 Backstroke with Sophomore Lily York adding points finishing 10th (1:25.37). Autry earned a 4th place medal in the 100 Breaststroke (1:19.90), and Gross finished 8th place (1:26.17) to finish the individual portion of the meet.
The meet finished with the Lady Zizzers 400 Freestyle Relay win and taking home the conference crown. Along with winning the Ozark Conference Championship in back-to-back years and in the final year of the conference, they are the only school other than Kickapoo or Glendale to ever win the conference. “It’s nice to go out on top,” commented West Plains Lady Zizzer’s Head Swim Coach Ryan Smith.
“It is great to come to a meet and accomplish what you expect as a team,” said Smith. “We are in the midst of a special season, and I am so proud of these ladies and the work they put in each day. But we still have work to do.”
Paige Sheridan (4x) – West Plains
Roslyn Fiorino (2x) – West Plains
Evie Niesen – West Plains
Addison Peugh – West Plains
Abigail Peugh – West Plains
Riley Spurling – West Plains
All Conference Second Team (selected by finishing 2nd)
Evie Niesen – West Plains
Addison Peugh – West Plains
Riley Spurling – West Plains
All Conference Honorable Mention (selected by finishing 3rd in relays or 3rd-6th individually)
Penelope Autry (2x) – West Plains
Roslyn Fiorino (2x) – West Plains
Abigail Peugh (2x) – West Plains
Audrey Land – West Plains
Evie Niesen – West Plains
Addison Peugh – West Plains
Emily Ritter – West Plains
Riley Spurling – West Plains
Lilliahna Wake – West Plains
