Eight Republic swimmers begin competition this afternoon at the MSHSAA Class 2 Girls State Swimming and Diving Championships in St. Peters — the largest group the program has ever sent to the state meet.
The Lady Tigers qualified in eight events, including three relays and five individual entries. It is a far cry from even a year ago, when just two swimmers — now-sophomore Elise Replogle and junior Amelia Beaver — made the trip.
“Last year I personally kind of tagged along with our other seniors from Glendale and Ozark,” Beaver said. “I think this year it’s gonna be a lot better for me and as a team because we’ll all have each other to experience state together. That’s gonna be so big for all of us and our bond.”
Replogle returns seeded 18th in the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.79, a school record she set this season) and 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.07). Combined with two state-qualifying events last season, she now has six career state entries — tying Karissa Metzger’s program record as just a sophomore.
“This year we have a relay, which is really cool. It’s the first time Republic’s ever had one,” Replogle said. “Having almost our whole team there will be super cool.”
Freshman Ava Brown qualified in the 200-yard freestyle (seeded 17th, 2:02.55) and the 100-yard freestyle (22nd, 56.63). Brown’s 100 free seed time tied Metzger’s school record from 2020-21. She said the mental demands of high school swimming caught her off guard more than the physical ones.
“For me it was more of a mental battle,” Brown said. “Yes, I need to put in a lot of effort into practice, but mentally being able to get up every day at 4 a.m. and go swim before school and push myself every single time — that was a lot more overwhelming mentally than I expected.”
Freshman Zaylie Pinnell qualified in the 50-yard freestyle (16th, 25.66 — a school record) and the 100-yard freestyle (27th, 57.39). Pinnell, who joined the team this season, said she felt at home immediately.
“When I joined my other sports teams, I was more nervous and I felt like I didn’t really fit in right away,” Pinnell said. “But with this team I felt like I just clicked right into place and everybody has their own spot. Everybody’s needed.”
Brown, Pinnell, and Replogle each qualified for four events this season counting relay legs — doubling Metzger’s previous single-season program record of two.
All three relays qualified. The 200-yard freestyle relay of Brown, Annalice Renegar, Replogle, and Pinnell is seeded 18th (1:46.59, a school record). The 400-yard freestyle relay of the same four is seeded 16th (3:52.97); the school record of 3:59.06, set earlier this season by that group, could fall again. The 200-yard medley relay of Mei Pruett, Sara Chism, Beaver, and Alice Booher is seeded 26th (2:01.60).
Junior Pruett, one of only two upperclassmen in the group, has watched the program grow around her since she was a sophomore.
“It’s been super fun,” Pruett said. “Just watching everyone younger than you enjoying the sport that you also loved for years, I feel like a mom watching all of them swim super fast.”
Chism, also a junior, said the closeness of this group comes from the grind they share.
“We all go through the same hard things, whether that’s practice, getting up early in the mornings, making sure we’re all there at meets — we all do it together,” Chism said. “Sharing that hardship is really what brings us closer together.”
Republic set or tied school records in seven events this season: the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 500 freestyle. Prelims begin this afternoon with finals Saturday.
