The Lady Zizzer Swim Team has had a very busy and successful season. “It’s kind of a dream season,” remarks the Lady Zizzers’ Head Coach Ryan Smith. The Lady Zizzers finished the dual meet portion of the season undefeated 22-0 for the first time ever. They had wins over Kickapoo, Nixa, Webb City, Carl Junction, Poplar Bluff, Bolivar, Waynesville, Marshfield, Monett, Camdenton, Seymour, Carthage, Logan-Rogersville, and Springfield Central.
Along with dual meets, the Lady Zizzers participated in various Invitationals. For the 3rd year in a row, the Lady Zizzers brought home 1st Place at the Monett Invitational. This meet usually features smaller teams from around the Southwest Missouri area. They earned 21 individual medals and medals in all 3 relays while winning 5 individual events and 2 relay events.
Then they attended a new meet, the Carthage Iron Woman Pentathlon. This meet is unlike any other. Each swimmer has the opportunity to compete in 5 individual events (100 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breaststroke, and 100 Freestyle) throughout the meet. Awards were given to the top 6 in each event and the overall individual winner with the lowest total time of the 5 events known as the “Iron Woman” of the meet. The girls won 13 medals, and Paige Sheridan finished 2nd in the Iron Woman standings. Sheridan and Riley Spurling each won one of the events.
The mid-season meet the Lady Zizzers attacked was the Ozarks Invitational January 6 in Springfield. After barely finishing 2nd the previous year, the Lady Zizzers were primed to take the win and win their very first Invitational of this size (31 teams) and featuring top teams from around the state. With 4 wins out of the 12 events, 13 individual medals, and medals in all 3 relay events, West Plains claimed the victory over Ozark (who won last year) 339 to 265, with Kickapoo, Glendale, and Francis Howell rounding out the top 5.
Unfortunately, the Lady Zizzer Invitational scheduled for January 13 at the West Plains Civic Center was canceled due to weather with no other options for rescheduling so late in the season.
The Lady Zizzers traveled for the first time to Columbia, MO and to the campus of the University of Missouri to swim in the COMO Invitational at the MizzouRec. This facility is one of the top pools in the nation and has hosted many professional and championship meets since it opened in 2005. This meet attracts 60-70% of the teams from around the state including 80-90% of the teams that compete at the State Championships in both Class 1 and Class 2 every year. The Lady Zizzers knew this was going to be their toughest meet of the season. They were able to advance Paige Sheridan (200 Free and 500 Free) and Roslyn Fiorino (200 Free and 100 Free) onto Finals individually. All 3 relays also qualified for finals featuring Sheridan, Fiorino, Addie Peugh, Abbie Peugh, Evie Niesen, Riley Spurling, and Penelope Autry. West Plains was one of only two Class 1 schools to advance all 3 relays to the Finals. The other was Cape Central who looks to be very dominant this year in Class 1. They ended the meet tied for 18th place overall and tied for 6th place among Class 1 schools.
Although the Ozark Conference Championships was delayed due to weather, they were able to get the meet in on January 24 in Springfield. The Lady Zizzers were defending conference champions looking to repeat. They were the first and only school to ever win the Ozark Conference other than Glendale and Kickapoo. “We wanted to go out on top with this being the last year of the Ozark Conference,” said Smith. It was a great meet for the Lady Zizzers, and after jumping into the lead after only the 2nd event, they never looked back and won their 2nd (and final) Ozark Conference Championship with 318 points to Glendale’s 251 and Kickapoo’s 241. They collected 17 individual medals and 2 relay medals. Both of those relay medals were conference champions along with 2 individual conference championship wins. All of those medal performances amounted to 10 First Team All Conference Honors, 3 Second Team All Conference Honors, and 12 All Conference Honorable Mention Honors.
Most recently they competed at the Springfield Invitational with 33 other schools from around the state. “We swam some secondary events that may become primary events or may be our last races in those events this season,” remarked Smith. “That is what I have always used that meet for. It is the week before Southwest Missouri Championships and a few weeks before State. It usually helps make decisions easier for what we will swim at Championships.” The ladies swam so well in these events, they won 2 of the 3 relays (barely missing out on sweeping all 3 relays), won 3 individual events, and medaled in all 3 relays and 6 individuals. West Plains led the team standings through Event 5. Lafayette out of St. Louis, a large Class 2 school, took over the lead as a team after event 6 and built it to over 40 points after Event 8. But West Plains fought back to be only down by 9 with the final relay to go. It was going to take a win and some help from other teams to pull it off, but it was still possible. Unfortunately, the Lady Zizzers came up just short, 263-258. “These ladies fought all day, and to come that close to beating a Class 2 team of that caliber when doing some secondary events, I was a very proud coach.” The Lady Zizzers did defeat St. Teresa’s Academy (210) and Notre Dame de Sion (203) who finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, and are Class 1 schools that could challenge the Lady Zizzers at State.
The Lady Zizzers now look ahead to the Southwest Missouri Championships Feb 2-3 in Springfield. They are hoping to improve their Runner-up finish from a year ago and take the win while setting themselves up for the State Championships Feb 15-16 where they finished 9th a year ago, the highest finish in history.
- The Lady Zizzers celebrate their 2nd straight conference championship.
- Co-Captains Paige Sheridan and Addie Peugh with our new lightning bolt made by Manager Elias Curtis.
- Senior Riley Spurling swimming the 100 Butterfly at Webb City.
- Sophomore Penelope Autry reacting to her very first State qualifying cut at the Ozarks Invitational in the 100 Breaststroke.
