KC area produces three double medalists at Missouri Class 1 swim and dive meet

Noelle DeFabio is glad she didn’t completely abandon the 100-yard butterfly.

The St. Pius X junior finished 22nd in the event two seasons ago at the state meet and decided to give the 500 freestyle a try instead last year.

“I decided to take a break because I wasn’t doing too well in it,” DeFabio said. “So, I just trained in it a little more this year and decided to swim it again.”

That decision proved fruitful Friday morning when DeFabio captured third place in the 100 fly at the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 1 swimming and diving championships at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

It was the highest finish by any Kansas City-area swimmer at the Class 1 meet.

“It feels pretty good, coming from freshman year and not doing too well in the 100 fly and then not doing it at all last year,” DeFabio said. “I’m glad I came back and got third this year.”

DeFabio’s time of 58.96 seconds was slightly better than the 59.22 she posted in Thursday’s preliminaries and light years ahead of the 1:03.23 she swam in the event as a freshman.

She brought home another medal Friday with a seventh-place finish in the 200 free. Her time of 1:56.55 was actually better than the 1:58.12 she posted last year when she placed sixth.

Two other area Class 1 swimmers also picked up a pair of medals.

Pembroke Hill sophomore Audrey Lambert earned a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke and placed sixth in the 200 individual medley.

Lambert finished third in the breast last breaststroke, so Friday’s time and placement represented a slight drop-off.

“I think it was nerves a little bit,” she said. “I think I did the best I could and I’m really excited that I got to state.”

Lambert did make an improvement in the IM. She won the consolation race last season and dropped almost a second off her time this time around.

“I was super excited that I made it into the top eight this year,” she said. “That was a big goal for me.”

Platte County junior Shannon Banark was the other double-medalist with finishes of sixth in the 100 free and seventh in the IM.

This year’s state meet was the first in which Banark swam the 100 free. The decision to participate in came just last week.

“It was actually at our last chance meet in Lee’s Summit and I went my 54 (seconds) and was like, ‘Well, I might as well do the 100 free,’” she said.

Banark won the IM consolation final as a freshman, but decided to ditch the event last year before picking it back up this year.

“I thought that maybe it was time to do it again,” she said. “It was good. My first two sprints were faster than yesterday, but I died on the free.”

Notre Dame de Sion senior Olivia Townsend was the only other area swimmer in a Class 1 final Friday, as she placed eighth in the breaststroke.

Townsend finished 30th in the event as a freshman, 14th as a sophomore and 11th last year, so this year’s finish capped off a natural progression for her.

Townsend’s fellow senior and teammate, Caroline Knopke, had the highest individual Class 1 finish of anyone from Kansas City, but hers came on Thursday, as she finished second in the 1-meter diving competition for the second straight year.

“Sometimes getting second one year, it’s hard to live up to the next year,” Notre Dame de Sion coach Kelly Timson said. “And she had to really fight for second. There were a few other girls that were in there. So, it wasn’t a gimme.”

The Class 1 team standings were dominated by St. Louis-area schools, which claimed the top six spots and eight of the top nine, including champion Parkway West.

The highest Kansas City team finish came from Platte County, which compiled 53 points to claim 16th place, one spot ahead of Notre Dame de Sion, which amassed 52 points.

The meet concludes with Class 2 finals on Saturday.

This story was originally published February 21, 2020 at 3:47 PM.