Noah Marshall finished 5th in the 200-yard individual medley and seventh in the 100-yard backstroke to lead Republic swimmers at the Southwest Missouri Championship in Springfield. Marshall’s time in the 200-yard IM preliminary heat was a whopping 9.49 seconds faster than his previous best. He shaved more than two seconds off his best time in the 100-yard backstroke prelims.
More than 20 schools competed in the championship over two days. In all, Republic’s young swim team advanced to the finals in five events. The other three events were the 200-yard medley relay and the 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.
The weekend featured personal bests for several Republic swimmers in both individual and relay events.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Keigan Morrison, Reece Mason, Marshall, and Kenneth McClellan cut their time by 5.45 seconds in the prelims, advanced to the finals, but were disqualified in that race.
In the 200-yard freestyle prelims, Mason dropped nearly six seconds from his PR, and Morrison dropped nearly five seconds, while Noah Higgins dropped almost 11 seconds.
McClellan had a PR by .51 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. Morrison dropped 2.49 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. McClellan dropped 6.66 seconds in the 100, and Higgins cut 1.16 seconds.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Republic shaved eight seconds off its previous best. That team included Simon Greek, Higgins, McClellan, and Marshall.
Mason cut 2.06 seconds off his best time in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Here are the Republic results from finals on Saturday:
FINALS: 200-yard Individual Medley
Noah Marshall – 5th – 2:13.22
FINALS: 200-yard Freestyle Relay
Simon Greek, Noah Higgins, Kenneth McClellan, Noah Marshall – 15th – 2:04.95
FINALS: 100-yard Backstroke
Noah Marshall – 7th – 1:01.26
FINALS: 400-yard Freestyle Relay
Keigan Morrison, Noah Higgins, Simon Greek, Reece Mason – 16th – 4:47.72