Five things to watch at Missouri, Kansas high school state swim meets

The Missouri girls swimming and diving state meet takes place Friday and Saturday at the City of St. Peters (Mo.) Rec-Plex. The Kansas boys swimming and diving state meet continues Friday and Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka.

Here are five things to watch at the meets:

1. The encore from Disette

Blue Valley North swimmer Sam Disette put together a record-setting performance at last year’s Kansas Class 6A meet, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 20.67 seconds.

He’s already beaten that state-record time during the regular season. Disette has a seed time of 20.34 seconds in the 50 free entering the state meet. He is also the defending champion and top seed in the 100 free by more than two seconds.

2. Portela returns as defending champion

Much like Disette, Lawrence Free State senior Jordan Portela returns to the Kansas Class 6A state meet as a multi-event champion and a state record holder.

Portela has the top seed time in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100 butterfly — two races he won last season. Portela owns the state record in the 100 butterfly.

3. Can Shawnee Mission East prolong its reign?

Shawnee Mission East is aiming for a third straight boys swimming and diving championship.

Aidan Holbrook returns as the defending champion in the 500-yard freestyle. He is seeded fifth in the event.

Senior Ian Longan is ranked No. 1 in the 100 backstroke. The Lancers are seeded first in the 400 freestyle relay.

4. Breaking the drought?

A Kansas City area athlete has not won the girls one-meter diving competition in Missouri since Blue Springs’ Kristi Stone took home gold in the event in 1993.

Blue Springs South junior Bailey Carter represents a promising opportunity to change that. Carter placed second in the state diving competition last season. And a week ago, she won the Suburban Gold Conference championship.

5. A Park Hill South streak

Park Hill South swimmer Tori Beeler won three straight 200-yard individual medley state titles. After her graduation, a teammate will look to keep the title in the building.

Park Hill South sophomore Georgia Clark is seeded third in the event. She is also seeded seventh in the 100 backstroke. The Panthers have finished in the top-three in the team standings in three consecutive years.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Five things to watch at Missouri, Kansas high school state swim meets."