Swimming

Poplar Bluff and West Plains were trading the lead early in the 400-yard freestyle relay Tuesday. In the end, the Mules pulled away to win by nearly 5 seconds while finishing with one of their best times of the season. Kacey Gregory, Julia Smothers, Karin Cibulova and Olivia Kirkman turned in a time of 4 minutes, 13.41 seconds, just 0.06 of a second off Poplar Bluff’s best time that currently ranks 27th in Class 1...

Sydney Ringwald won the 100-yard freestyle, Emilie Dickson finished second in the 100-yard butterfly and Cape Central finished fifth at Saturday's COMO Invitational at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo. In addition to Ringwald and Dickson, Central finished in the top eight in the 200-yard medley relay, 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay...

Kacy Gregory and Olivia Kirkman won two individual races, Addison Kirkman won another while Haile Hall and Kelsey Kramer took the top spots in the dive for Poplar Bluff on Tuesday. The Mules also took the top two spots in the 400-yard freestyle relay with Kacey Gregory, Lily Gregory, Addison Kirkman and Karin Cibulova winning by nearly 4 seconds over Olivia Kirkman, Julia Smothers, Reece Prenger and Casey Browning...

POCAHONTAS, Ark. — Addison Kirkman, Keona Sample, Olivia Kirkman and a pair of relay wins led the Poplar Bluff swim team to a seven-team meet win Tuesday. The Mules finished with 597 points, beating Mountain Home (Ark.) by 47 points. Olivia Kirkman won the 100-meter butterfly with Addison Kirkman second while Addison Kirkman won the 400 freestyle...

Poplar Bluff swimmer Olivia Kirkman led the Mules with two first-place individual victories and two first-place relay wins in a 90-78 victory over Jackson on Monday. Kirkman, a senior at Poplar Bluff, won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle and was part of the Mules' 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard freestyle relay teams...

The Cape Central girls swim team is coming off its best finish in school history. But the Tigers aren't content with just fourth place. "We want a better finish than last year, but we do feel like we're stronger," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "That sophomore class with our two divers Tommy-Anne (Marriott) and Lydia (Cao). ...

The Jackson girls swim team defeated Farmington 95-68 in a dual meet between the two teams at Famington High School. The Indians finished in first in every event except one, the 200-yard individual medley where Knights’ Skylie Adams took first place...

Cape Central continued its dominant season, winning the 2021 Rec Center Relays championship Thursday by 60 points. The Tigers placed first out of the six teams with 104 points and set three meet records along the way. Poplar Bluff took second place with just 44 points...

SEYMOUR, Mo. — Poplar Bluff’s depth was able to overtake the speed of West Plains on Tuesday as the Mules swim team won by 44 points even with only two event wins. Olivia Kirkman won the butterfly and Poplar Bluff’s 200-yard medley relay opened the meet with a win as the Mules had 13 top-3 finishes to overtake the Zizzers...

LADUE, Mo. — Poplar Bluff swimmers each seven top-10 finishes while divers Abagail Prewitt and Lily Wilson each finished fourth and sixth as the Mules placed sixth at the Ladue Invitational on Saturday. Olivia Kirkman finished fifth in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events while swimming a leg on two relays with Addison Kirkman, Kacey Gregory and Keona Sample that placed...

Girls Swimming Roundup, Dec. 1: Cape Central tops Jackson in season-opening head-to-head meet. Cape Central earned some bragging rights over Jackson in the season-opening meet for both teams, as the Tigers pulled away from the Indians for a 118-58 team win Tuesday...

Poplar Bluff swept the relays while Olivia Kirkman and Kacey Gregory each won two individual events as the Mules won a home meet Tuesday. Notre Dame Hannah Bledsoe won two events while Delaney Langenstein was first to the wall in another for the Bulldogs...

Prior to the start of their season-opening meet Tuesday at the Black River Coliseum, Poplar Bluff’s seniors held a quick presentation to the new swimmers on how to use the lap counter boards. “It’s very important,” said senior Alyssa Thompson, who swims the 500-yard freestyle...

Here are the MSHSAA winter sports district assignments for Semoball area schools. ^-girls only C6D1: Fox, Jackson, Lindbergh, Northwest, Oakville, Poplar Bluff, Seckman, SLUH. Cor Jesu-^ C5D1: Cape Central, DeSoto, Farmington, Festus, Hillsboro, North County Sikeston, Windsor-Imperial...

Jackson's Nate Thomas' inaugural high school swimming season ended with a visit to the podium. Thomas earned All-State honors in two of his four events at Friday's MSHSAA Class 1 State Swimming Championships in St. Peters, Mo. The Indians freshman took second place in the 200-yard individual medley and third in the 100-yard backstroke...

Conference champions. State qualifiers. Team record holders. The Poplar Bluff boys swim team has checked off a lot of boxes this fall and now the Mules are looking to add more at the MSHSAA Class 1 championship meet. With seniors Kastin Caudel, Christian Todd and Gavin Vaughn, junior Elijah McAtee and sophomore Carson Todd, the Mules will compete in the three relay events at the St. Peters Rec-Plex starting Thursday afternoon...

Jackson’s Nate Thomas has an opportunity to bring home some hardware, including a potential individual state championship, in his first high school season. The decorated freshman swimmer — who recently took home four gold medals and was named co-MVP at the SEMO Conference meet — is seeded in the top five in both of his individual races ahead of this weekend’s MSHSAA Class 1 State Swimming Championships in St. Peters, Mo...

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Looking to improve their chances at qualifying for the state meet for the first time, the Poplar Bluff swim team ended up with another first for the program. The Mules claimed the SEMO Conference team title Tuesday and bettered their chances at qualifying for state in the process...

Boys Soccer Class 3 District 1 Notre Dame 6, Hillsboro 0 Mehlville 7, Cape Central 0 Class 4 District 1 Jackson 1, Northwest 0 Boys Swimming Semo Conference Meet Poplar Bluff 357 Jackson 318 Notre Dame 299 Farmington 295 Cape Central 279 Saxony Lutheran 104...

Beating a quality opponent twice is tough. Thrice is harder. Class 2 power Woodland found out the hard way on Tuesday when it fell to Saxony Lutheran 25-22, 9-25, 23-25, 26-24 in a district championship match at West County, sending the Crusaders to the state sectional round...

The Jackson boys swim team took home a team victory on Monday at the Southeast Missouri State Aquatic Center, outscoring both Notre Dame and Saxony Lutheran 97 to 86 and 52, respectively. Jackson freshman Nate Thomas finished first in all four of the events he participated in, picking up victories in the 200 medley relay, 200 yard freestyle, 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay...

Oak Ridge defeated Principia 25-17, 25-8, 25-15 on Saturday in a Class 1 District 4 quarterfinal held at West County High School in Frankclay, Mo. The Blue Jays got 14 kills, 10 digs and six assists from all-conference senior Paige Glueck. Stat-sheet stuffer Zoe Berry recorded five kills, 13 assists, nine digs, 16 service points and six aces in the win...

For their final home meet, Poplar Bluff’s three seniors — Kastin Caudel, Christian Todd and Gavin Vaughn — were given the assignment of making the team’s lineup. “It’s hard to get (right) when you got 12 people, you try to get them in the right things,” Vaughn said...

The Cape Central boys swim team finished third overall at the John Burroughs High School tri-meet Tuesday, scoring 41 points. Tigers Individual results: Event 1: 200 Medley Relay 5th - Owen Groves, Elias Theall, Noah McRaven, Adam Sparks – 2:06.00 Event 2: 200 Freestyle...

The Cape Central boys swim team lost to Vianney on Thursday by an overall score of 117-49. Tigers Individual results include: Event 1: 200 Medley Relay 2. Noah McRaven, Elias Theall, Phineas Theall, Owen Groves - 1:57.96 Event 2: 200 Freestyle Elias Theall - 1:56.07...

Poplar Bluff swimmers lowered their team-record time in the 400-yard freestyle relay as did Elijah McAtee in the 500 freestyle Tuesday to cap a 126-106 win over visiting Jackson. Kastin Caudel, Elijah McAtee, Gavin Vaughn and Carson Todd were 2.13 seconds faster than their previous-best time in the final event. The Mules won in 3 minutes, 43.94 seconds, breaking the team mark for the fourth time this season...

Having put his team through a tough workout the day before, Poplar Bluff swim coach Kyler Sowell was not expecting to see many drops in times during Tuesday’s meet. Sowell and the Mules were less worried about beating Cape Central now as they are about doing it in November...

FARMINGTON — The Poplar Bluff swim team won all but three events Thursday to beat host Farmington 108-58. Elijah McAtee broke a team record in the 200-yard freestyle, winning by 0.4 of a second, and edged teammate Gavin Vaughn by 0.23 of a second to win the breaststroke...

Jackson swimmer Nate Thomas has always loved being in the water, so it makes sense that the freshman is one of the top swimmers in the area. Thomas showed his ability during Jackson's Rec Center Relays on Thursday in Cape Girardeau, Mo., helping lead three of his four relays to gold-medal finishes and the Indians to an overall team victory...

POPLAR BLUFF — While still tinkering with the lineup, the Poplar Bluff swim team found a good combination with the medley relay. Elijah McAtee, Gavin Vaughn, Kastin Caudel and Carson Todd teamed up to shave nearly 8 seconds off the previous fastest time this season and break the team record set in 2003...

WEST PLAINS, Mo. — Gavin Vaughn and Elijah McAtee each won a race and Poplar Bluff finished second in a pair of relays as the Mules ended up second in a six-team meet Thursday. McAtee edged Avery Miller of West Plains by 0.29 of a second to win the 100-meter butterfly in 1 minute, 2.17 seconds and was second in the 200 freestyle while cutting 3 seconds off his time...

The Jackson boys swim team got their season started with a victory over rival Cape Central, winning the team event with a score of 67-50. On the Jackson side, the team of Brayden Walters, Wade Levell, Nate Thomas, and Cade McAdams defeated the Cape Central team of Owen Groves, Phineas Theall, Noah McRaven, and Elias Theall in the Men's 200 Medley Relay...

There are few businesses anywhere in the world that haven’t had to think differently over the past couple of years in this ever-changing environment that we are all immersed in, more than likely, forever. And Semoball.com is not immune to that. The website devoted to providing sports fans thorough coverage of sports throughout Southeast Missouri is still going to make that its mission on a daily basis, however, the internal pieces are going to be doing some shifting moving forward.

WEST PLAINS, Mo. — Cape Central’s Phineas Theall and Elias Theall set pool records in winning their events Saturday at the West Plains Duals to open the swimming season. Phineas Theall won two events in record time, the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-butterfly, Elias Theall won the 400-freestyle while the two teamed up with Owen Groves and Noah McRaven to place second in the medley relay...

By BRIAN ROSENER Sports Editor When the Poplar Bluff boys swim team return four years ago, the Mules didn’t have enough swimmers to fill out a full lineup. Now the roster has doubled in size and seniors Kastin Caudel, Christian Todd and Gavin Vaughn are back as four-year lettermen with one more chance to become the program’s first state qualifier...

Veteran swim coach Bobby Brewer has been around the sport of swimming for a long time, so he knows what it takes to reach an elite level in the sport.

There were two Missouri high school divers recently named to the 2021 NISCA All-America squad. One is the most decorated diver in MSHSAA history, while the other, who happens to be an incoming sophomore at Cape Central, is chasing her legacy.

The Kennett Killer Whales capped off arguably its greatest season in program history by taking home the top prize at the Southeast Missouri Swim Conference Meet July 17. Kennett tallied a championship-high 6,390 points at the conference meet. River City Aquatics (3,679 points) placed second, Poplar Bluff Piranhas (1,253) came in third, St. ...

Prior to the MSHSAA Class 4 Boy’s Soccer state championship game last November in Springfield, Jackson senior goalkeeper Luke Mirly wasn’t exactly feeling great.

The Semoball Cup is presented to the school with the most successful season based on a formula that takes into account the combined winning percentage of all sports teams (WIN) plus bonus points for advancement in postseason play for both teams (POST) and individuals (IND). The bonus points are divided by the number of teams a school fields. Here are the standings with previous rankings from 2020:...

There is nothing like the taste of success to rekindle a flame for training in sports.

Spring sports and top award finalists for the 2021 Semoball Awards presented by SoutheastHEALTH will be announced Friday, along with the final wave of tickets going on sale. The announcement of finalists can be heard at 9 a.m. Friday on SEMO ESPN Radio and on the Semoball.com Facebook page. A story recapping all the finalists will publish later Friday online at semoball.com and in your local newspaper...

Following a year of missing out on gathering with friends and family due to the COVID pandemic, everyone, including sports fans, is anxious to spend time with those closest to us once again.

The reality for Notre Dame senior swimmer Drew Barber is that he swims the shortest distance held in his meets.

The Cape Central girl’s 200 medley relay squad of Ava Duncan, Bella Dennis, Lauren Lamar, and Grace Sanders stunned everyone at last year’s MSHSAA Class 1 State Swim Finals.

Since posting their fastest time of the season on January 22, Poplar Bluff’s medley relay has been right at the cutoff for making the MSHSAA state swimming and diving championships. “In the last couple of years we’ve kind of banked on that (consideration time),” Mules coach Beth Lewis-Muse said...

Cape Central had several outstanding individual performances at the SEMO Conference Swim Meet on Tuesday at the Central Municipal Pool, all of which lifted the Tigers above the field, as they won the six-team meet with 613.5 points over runner-up Poplar Bluff 431.

Cape Central was dominant once again in the overall combined results, scoring a team score of 613.5 to earn first place over Poplar Bluff(431), Jackson(282), Notre Dame(266), Farmington(128.5), and Saxony Lutheran(124). Cape Central's Bella Dennis captured first place in two individual events (200 IM and 100 Breaststroke) and was part of two, first place team events (200 Medley relay and 200 Freestyle relay) while Emilie Dickson of won one individual event(100 Butterfly) and was part of two, first place team events(200 Freestyle Relay and 400 freestyle relay) as well as taking third place in the 100 Freestyle.. ...

In a typical swimming and diving season, perhaps Cape Central, Notre Dame, and Saxony Lutheran would have gone after each other on Wednesday with a touch more fervor. However, the 2020-21 girl’s swim season has been anything but typical due to having to navigate a global pandemic.