Republic swimmer, Karissa Metzger, won a gold medal last week at the Springfield Invite, two more Saturday at the Southwest Missouri Championships, and broke two of her own school records along the way.
The terrific week for Metzger, a junior, started with a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in a field of forty-four swimmers at the Springfield Invite, missing out on the gold by seven one-hundredths of a second. But her time of 2:02.54 was still good enough to break her own school record by almost two seconds, which Metzger set last year. Metzger finished out the Springfield Invite with her first gold medal of the week in the 100-yard breaststroke, where she beat Marshfield’s Maggie Groenke by more than two seconds.
But Metzger didn’t stop there; she broke her own record in the 100-yard breaststroke in the prelims, posting a time of 1:08.19, and then won both of her events the following weekend at the Southwest Missouri Championships, her first coming in the 200-yard individual medley. Her time of 2:16.50 was more than a second faster than Ashlie German of Springfield Central. The 100-yard breaststroke was her final event of the weekend and, despite all of her recent success, Karissa Metzger was still anxious before the swim.
“I get super nervous, but Coach (Steve) Boyce always talks me down and says ‘Just go hard and you’ll do great.'”
Metzger took the advice to heart, clocking in at 1:08.26 to take home her third gold of the week.
Fewer swimmers than usual are going to state this year because of COVID restrictions, but Metzger is almost certain to be there the 200-yard individual medley, the 100-yard breaststroke, or both.
