Republic sends record contingent to State, breaks five school records

Republic's girls swim team made program history at the MSHSAA Class 2 State Swimming and Diving Championships in St. Peters, sending eight swimmers to the meet — its largest state contingent ever — and advancing four entries to Saturday's finals, also a program best. The Lady Tigers broke five school records over the two-day meet and finished 21st in team scoring with 29 points out of 32 teams.
 
Freshman Ava Brown broke two individual school records. Brown set new marks in the 100-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle, both in Saturday's consolation finals. Her 100 free record actually fell twice — first in Friday's prelims at 56.23, then again Saturday at 56.17, breaking the mark of 56.63 she had shared with Karissa Metzger. Her 200 free time of 2:01.77 topped Metzger's 2:01.87 from 2021-22. Brown finished 13th in the 200 free and 14th in the 100 free, dropping time in both events from prelims to finals.
 
Freshman Zaylie Pinnell lowered her own 50-yard freestyle school record to 25.65 in Friday's prelims, shaving one-hundredth of a second off the mark she had set earlier this season. Pinnell finished 18th in the 50 free, just outside the top-16 cutline for day two. She also placed 31st in the 100 free.
 
Sophomore Elise Replogle improved her own school record in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in 1:02.52 in prelims, down from the 1:02.79 she posted earlier this year. Replogle's 19th-place finish in the 100 fly did not advance to finals.
 
Replogle also finished ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke in Friday's prelims with a time of 1:09.45 — one spot outside the championship final. It was the closest a Republic swimmer has come to reaching the A final since Metzger finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 2022. Replogle placed ninth again in Saturday's B final at 1:09.64.
 
The 200-yard freestyle relay team — Brown, Annalice Renegar, Replogle, and Pinnell — set the school record twice. The team finished 12th in Friday's prelims at 1:44.79, then moved up to 10th in Saturday's finals at 1:44.15, well under the previous mark of 1:46.59.
 
Republic's 200-yard medley relay was disqualified in Friday's prelims, and the 400-yard freestyle relay finished 20th in 3:54.39.
 
Eight swimmers represented Republic at the meet: Amelia Beaver, Alice Booher, Brown, Sara Chism, Pinnell, Mei Pruett, Annalice Renegar, and Replogle.