Taylor Norwood and Raegan McAtee are returning to a much different MSHSAA state swimming championship meet while Paige Bradley and Peyton Moore are set to become Poplar Bluff's first-ever state qualifying divers.
"I feel like there's so much weight on me going into this weekend," said Norwood, looking to complete a four-year run of earning all-state honors.
McAtee and Norwood will swim in two individual events each as well as a leg on Poplar Bluff's medley and 400-yard freestyle relays with Bradley, Carly Wiseman and Audrey Cisne.
For the first time there will be multiple classes with the Mules competing in the larger Class 2 at the 43rd annual meet at St. Peters Rec-Plex.
Poplar Bluff coach Beth Lewis-Muse said the change will be more noticeable on the pool deck than the competition in the water.
"We're going to be able to move around and coach," she added.
Norwood comes in with the fourth-fastest time in her two individual events, the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly. She already has seven all-state medals, including three straight years of placing in the top eight in both events.
The senior won the conference IM with her fastest time of the season at 2 minutes, 10.42 seconds despite what she called a "throbbing" foot pain.
Norwood said she was told by her doctor it could be a stress fracture of the metatarsal bones and probably needed to be in a protective boot. Instead, she got a cortisone shot to relieve the pain.
It's the first time in a long swimming career that Norwood can recall ever being injured. However, last year in the week before state she had the flu. Still, she advanced to the championship final in two individual events, placing eighth in both.
Three all-state swimmers along with Norwood are back in the IM led by Rock Bridge senior Nicole Williams, the runner-up last year, with the best time this winter at 2:04.66. A pair of sophomores, Eureka's Lily Harrell and Hickman's Lena Coon, have faster times this winter than Norwood while Park Hill South junior Georgia Clark and Francis Howell senior Emma Bradham reached the final last year.
In the butterfly, 10 swimmers have broken a minute this season including both Norwood and McAtee, who comes in with the ninth-fastest time at 59.58 seconds. Defending champion Karisa Franz, a junior from Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis, is back with the fastest time at 55.87. Brabham and Olivia Stoneman, a junior from Nixa, also have faster times then Norwood's 58.44 this season.
McAtee ranks 20th going into the 50 freestyle at 25.32 with the top 12 all under 25.0 seconds.
"There's not a lot of time to get (faster)," McAtee said. "Just put your head down and kick."
McAtee is swimming the butterfly for a second straight year after tying for 33rd in the prelim last year at 1:01.27. As a freshman, McAtee was 44th in the 50 prelim, missing the finals by just under a second at 25.78.
McAtee will swim the third leg in both relays.
"There's definitely some pressure but I know what it's like to be the anchor leg so I definitely feel less pressure being the third leg," McAtee said.
In their final race to qualify for state, the Mules did just that in the 400 relay, winning the conference title in 3:50.41. Bradley, Wiseman, McAtee and Norwood cut 16.42 seconds off their previous-best time in the process.
Lewis-Muse said a change in the order of the swimmers gave the relay a boost.
"I was more comfortable because I had someone to look off of to see if I had the right rhythm," Wiseman said of swimming the second leg against competition.
"And I had the other two behind me to back me up."
Bradley leads off with McAtee swimming third and Norwood the anchor. The Mules enter ranked 20th with the top 16 all under 3:49. They will swim in Lane 1 on the outside of the pool in the third of four heats.
In the medley relay, Cisne leads off swimming the backstroke followed by Norwood's breaststroke, McAtee's butterfly and Bradley with the freestyle anchor. The Mules, who swim the final heat in Lane 1, rank 19th at 1:56.74 and top nine teams all under 1:52.
Cisne, an alternate for state last year as a freshman, is familiar with the pool having previously lived in St. Louis and competed in club events there. She said preparing for the nerves of competing at the state championships is, "just like you work through the season to prepare."
Bradley swam a leg on the medley and 400 relays last year at state but will compete in the dive Saturday morning.
Preliminary races will start at 5 p.m. Friday with the top eight in each event advancing to the final and the next eight swimming in the consolation final Saturday afternoon.