ST. PETERS, Mo. Raytown senior Monica Hernandez had just finished the swim of her life in the championship heat of the 100-yard breaststroke Saturday at the Missouri state girls swimming and diving meet. </p><p>The only question remaining was where her personal record time of 1:05.95 would place her in the field of eight. </p><p>In a normal circumstance, Hernandez would have looked at the scoreboard and found the answer. But the Rec-Plex scoreboard was malfunctioning, which led to the added drama.</p><p>&#x201C;I was concentrating on my race and I had no idea,&#x201D; Hernandez said. &#x201C;I would not find out for sure until they handed out the medals.&#x201D;</p><p>The one thing that was certain was that Hernandez hadn&#x2019;t become the first Kansas City-area girls swimmer to win an individual event since 2009. </p><p>MICDS coach Kristen Kaiser was handing out the medals, which meant that her swimmer, Annie Goessling, had won the event. The winning coach hands out the eight medals in each event.</p><p>As it turned out Hernandez finished third in a hotly contested race in which .65 seconds separated first through fifth place.</p><p>&#x201C;I couldn&#x2019;t have asked for a better last high school race,&#x201D; said Hernandez, who will be attending the U.S. Naval Academy. </p><p>&#x201C;It would have been great to have won, but I am pretty darn happy right now.&#x201D;</p><p>Despite the lack of championships, there were many highlights from KC-area swimmers. Blue Springs senior Ibby Simcox teamed with Corinne Rinne, Alyssa Aubuchon and Lexi Lezcano for a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.</p><p>Simcox had the third fastest time in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:08.67 on Saturday although she officially finished ninth because she was in the consolation heat. Simcox finished fourth in the 100 butterfly at 57.49.</p><p>Simcox had mixed emotions after stepping down from the podium after the butterfly final. It was the 13th time she had stood on the podium at the Rec-Plex and received a state medal.</p><p>&#x201C;I was excited because I did swim well today,&#x201D; said Simcox, who will swim at Missouri State. &#x201C;But I am also sad to see it all end. I just loved high school swimming. I never found a group that meshed so well as the girls on the team and the coaches. The coaches here were just amazing.&#x201D;</p><p>Simcox&#x2019;s effort helped Blue Springs to a sixth-place finish in the team competition. That was the best for a KC-area school. </p><p>Blue Springs followed up the second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a sixth place in the 200 freestyle relay. Lezcano, Aubuchon, Amy Jorgensen and Ashley Sturman were on that team.</p><p>Liberty freshman Dreya Curnow won a pair of state medals in her first state meet, finishing sixth in the 100 freestyle and eighth in the 50 freestyle.</p><p>&#x201C;My goal was to finish in the top eight in both events and I did that,&#x201D; Curnow said. </p><p>&#x201C;It was an exciting meet. I am glad I got the feel of things here and I am ready to come back.&#x201D;</p><p>Two other KC-area girls got two state medals in individual events. St. Teresa&#x2019;s Rose Hutchison was seventh in the 100 and 200 freestyles. Park Hill&#x2019;s Brynn Guardado was eighth in the 200 and 500 freestyles.</p><p>Rinne added an individual medal to the one she won in the relay, finishing a strong fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:06.11.</p><p>Notre Dame de Sion and Park Hill South had relay teams in the championship heat Saturday. Notre Dame de Sion&#x2019;s Caroline Gates, J.T. Nelson, Kristine Sullivan and Hannah Tutera were sixth in the 400- freestyle relay. Park Hill South&#x2019;s Mariah Bryant, Rachael Norfleet, Helen Yeater and Miranda Henderson were eighth in the 200 medley relay.</p><p>Four area divers finished in the top 10: Blue Springs South&#x2019;s Bre Schlenger was sixth, Notre Dame de Sion&#x2019;s Mary Tutera was seventh, Pembroke Hill&#x2019;s Hannah Bortnick was ninth and Lee&#x2019;s Summit West&#x2019;s Nina Privitera was 10th. Cali Bissell and Patty Pampolina of Blue Springs also made it to the finals in diving, finishing 12th and 16th, respectively.</p><p>Columbia Rock Bridge won its first team championship with 213 points. Springfield Glendale was second with 182 points, and MICDS was third with 160 points. Blue Springs finished with 119 points, which was just 41/2 points behind fifth place Fort Zumwalt West. </p><p>Notre Dame de Sion just finished out of the top 10, placing 11th in the team standings.