Andy Kimball
Editor-In-Chief
Senior Michael Greaves touched the wall. He and his teammates looked straight up at the scoreboard.
“1:34.21.” The scoreboard affirmed that Greaves, along with seniors Kurt Krautmann, Lucas Doll and junior Chris Ball, were going to State.
Krautmann said, “We looked at the scoreboard and we were like, ‘That’s our time right? That’s it right? We were all just really happy. It felt great.”
Doll will also swim the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events at State after qualifying for both events at the Flyer Invitational at Lindbergh on Oct. 16. The 200-yard medly relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay qualified
The last time a male swimmer at WGHS went to State was in 2010 when Scott Williams qualified in the 200-yard freestyle.
Men’s swim team is 6-2 in dual meets. Its only losses were a 135-57 defeat to Kirkwood and a loss to Pattonville.
The Statesman also finished ninth of 21 teams at the Cape Rock invitational in Cape Girardeau.
This is the best start the Statesmen have had in head coach Dan Broshears’ 19 years at the high school.
In 2014, the Statesman lost to Rockwood Summit High School 130-46. This year, the Statesman beat Summit 100-76.
Broshears said, “This is one of the biggest teams I’ve ever coached and we have a good group of seniors who provide good leadership.”
“This year we have a much bigger team; usually we have 11-13 guys but this year we have 24,” Greaves said. “Going to 24 this year motivates a lot of people. Also, we have a big group of seniors that set the bar high.”
Greaves, Krautmann and Doll all dropped times within one second of the state-qualifying standard in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle events.
Ball, Greaves, Doll and Krautmann finished fourth out of 22 relay teams at the Cape Central invitational. Greaves, Doll, Ball and sophomore Patrick Unterreiner placed seventh out of 22 and set a new school record in the medley relay.
Greaves added, “There has been a lot more involvement in terms of cheering on people during the meets and going to team events. It seems this year has been a lot more focused on fun and that has translated into team success.”
The next meet for the Statesmen is the Suburban XII championships at Kirkwood. Then they have the MSHSAA State championships on Nov. 4-5, at the Saint Peters Rec-Plex.
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