LADUE, Mo. --Taylor Norwood qualified for state in her first individual event of the season Saturday, missed a second by less than a second, while Poplar Bluff's medley relay was 0.6 of a second from qualifying.
The Mules placed seventh as a team at the Ladue Invitational with times that left the coaching staff pleasantly surprised.
"We're ecstatic," Mules coach Beth Lewis-Muse said.
Norwood, Audrey Cisne, Raegan McAtee and Paige Bradley took second in the 200-yard medley relay, the opening race, with a time of 1 minute, 58.89 seconds. It was good enough to be considered for the state meet but missed the automatic qualifying standard by just over half a second.
The four also placed second in the 200-freestyle relay at 1:47.23, missing the state cut by 1.23 seconds.
"It was overwhelmingly impressive to us coaches. Girls were throwing time we were not expecting," Lewis-Muse said. "It was amazing."
Norwood won the 200-individual medley in 2:16.82, over a second under the state cut. The senior also placed second in the 100 backstroke in 1:03.17, missing the state cut by 0.88 of a second.
McAtee also missed a state cut by 0.58 of a second in the 50 freestyle, placing second at 26.07. The junior won the 25 freestyle, a race not competed at the state meet, in 12.7, beating Norwood to the wall by 0.15 of a second. In the 500 freestyle, McAtee placed sixth at 5:51.8, under the consideration standard.
Bradley placed fifth in the 100 freestyle at 1:00.85, within 5 seconds of a state cut and under the consideration limit.
Cisne was less than a second from the consideration cut in the 50, finishing 13th at 29.14 seconds. The sophomore was 19th in the backstroke at 1:14.6.
Bradley was sixth in the 25 freestyle at 13.61 and 12th in diving with 153 points. Peyton Moore placed 14th at 146.65 in the dive while Kaylee Harris scored 129.95 for 18th.
Jessica Rush, Haven Phelps, Calli Barker and Carly Wiseman were 21st in the 400-freestyle relay at 4:48.67.
Wiseman placed 19th in the 200 freestyle at 2:33.75 while Rush was 21st at 2:34.92 and Barker 24th at 2:40.43. Wiseman was 17th in the 25 freestyle at 14.48 and 20th in the 100 freestyle at 1:08.66.
Phelps placed 20th in the breaststroke at 1:28.75 while Simone Anders was 25th at 1:32.19.
Electra Destree swam the butterfly for the first time, Lewis-Muse said.
Last year the Mules placed sixth as a team with 195 points. They scored 161 Saturday, nine behind Villa Duchesne, but finished well ahead of Jackson, Notre Dame and Saxony Lutheran.
Poplar Bluff hosts its first meet of the season at 4 p.m. Monday at the Black River Coliseum Aquatic Center.