Republic freshmen Amelia Beaver and Elise Replogle each surpassed expectations in their state championship debuts Friday, with Beaver setting a new school record during preliminary competition at the MSHSAA Class 1 meet in St. Peters.
Replogle competed in two events, dropping significant time in both races. In the 200-yard individual medley, she shaved more than three and a half seconds from her entry time, finishing in 2:22.72. That earned her 25th place after entering as the 31st seed. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Replogle’s time of 1:13.28 was more than half a second faster than her entry mark. She finished 23rd after being seeded 24th.
Beaver broke her own school mark in the 100-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 1:06.79. That was nearly a second faster than her entry time and good for 27th place overall after being seeded 30th.
Both swimmers bettered their seeding positions in all three events. Beaver split 32.41 for her first 50 yards and 34.38 for her second 50 in the backstroke. Replogle’s IM splits were 30.98 (butterfly), 37.36 (backstroke), 41.82 (breaststroke), and 32.56 (freestyle).
