SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Poplar Bluff swimmers improved their chances of getting an invitation to the state championships over the weekend.
Olivia Kirkman had a pair of top-12 finishes while lowering her time in the 100-yard freestyle while Addison Kirkman placed 10th in the breaststroke Saturday at the Springfield Invite. Poplar Bluff finished 16th out of 30 teams.
On Friday, the Mules placed ninth as a team at the Friday Night Fights as Poplar Bluff’s 200- and 400-freestyle relays improved its time. The 400 relay currently ranks 21st in all of Class 1 at 4 minutes, 1.14 seconds while the 200 relay ranks 24th at 1:49.45.
Poplar Bluff’s medley relay ranks 18th with a time of 2:01.52 set Jan. 8. Kacey Gregory, Olivia Kirkman, Addison Kirkman and Julia Smothers finished seventh Saturday at 2:04.23.
Casey Browning, Alyssa Thompson, Lily Gregory and Karin Cibulova placed 20th in the 200-freestyle relay Saturday at 1:59.39.
Olivia Kirkman’s 100-freestyle time currently ranks 29th in Class 1 while her 50 time is 32nd. The senior placed sixth Saturday in the 50 at 25.91 seconds, just 1.66 seconds off the winning pace. Kirkman finished 10th in the breaststroke and 12th in the 100 freestyle at 56.74 seconds.
Addison Kirkman, who ranks 40th in Class 1 in the breaststroke, finished 10th at 1:16.45 in the event and 32nd in the 200 freestyle.
Haile Hall was 16th in the dive with 224.55 points and 49th in the butterfly.
Kacey Gregory was 15th in the backstroke and 29th in the 100-freestyle while Cibulova was 22nd in the breaststroke and 30th in the 200-freestyle. Lily Gregory followed Cibulova in the 200 and was 51st in the 100-freestyle while Browning placed 28th in the butterfly.
Smothers finished 33rd in the 100 freestyle and 45th in the 50 while Addison Shell was 47th in the butterfly and 70th in the backstroke. Alyssa Thompson placed 49th in the backstroke and 57th in the 50 while Reece Prenger was 51st in both the 200-freestyle and breaststroke. Tymber Colvin was 66th in the breaststroke while Rebecca Stevens was 71st in the backstroke.
The Mules will swim Tuesday at Farmington and at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Cape Central, instead of hosting the Tigers on Thursday due to the forecasted winter weather. The regular season ends Feb. 8 at the SEMO Conference Championships at Cape Central.
The top 32 times in each event qualify for the state meet.