KC area swimmers position themselves for finals

In its quest for a 12th straight Missouri boys swimming and diving state championship, the Rockhurst Hawklets retreated to their team hotel Friday night to assess things.

“We had some really exceptional swims and then we had a couple disappointments, so we’re going to regroup tonight and see where we stand,” first-year Rockhurst coach Bob Barth said. “Our statistician here is going to go over the points and we’ll share that with the boys. We’re looking forward to an exciting day two.”

Rockhurst did not have an individual or relay team take first in any preliminary event, but the Hawklets hope their normally stellar depth comes through again on Saturday.

“We’ve lacked a little bit of that depth this year, although I’m optimistic because toward the end of the season, some of those guys have really stepped up,” Barth said.

Two Kansas City area swimmers did emerge atop their respective events on Friday.

Lee’s Summit North sophomore Liam Bresette’s time of 4 minutes, 31.91 seconds captured the top seed in the 500-yard freestyle.

“I primarily took the first 10 laps pretty easy and set up those last 10, where I just kicked it into the next gear,” Bresette said.

Lee’s Summit junior Sam Drew took the top seed in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.97 seconds, which edged Oak Park senior Elliott Eisele-Miller (57.49). It was also a personal best time and school record for Drew.

“I finished ninth last year and being in first going into finals is just amazing,” Drew said.

Park Hill had the top time (1:27.49) in the 200 free relay and Staley tied Cape Girardeau Central (1:36.94) for the top seed in the 200 medley relay.

The one-meter diving competition gets underway at 9 a.m. Saturday, while the swim finals begin at 3 p.m. at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "KC area swimmers position themselves for finals."