March 9, 2020
At the end of the Class 2 State Championship, the KHS Girls Swim team finished in second place, tying their school record for the best finish at State since 1974 Feb. 22. One swimmer that stood out for Kirkwood in this event was Ella Pearl, junior, who won the 200-meter Individual Medley and also got first place in the 100-meter Backstroke. She also won MISCA Swimmer of the year even after the State Championship was over.
“It was really cool seeing all the hard work that I put in throughout the year come together in this meet,” Pearl said. “The practices and Coach Beasley really helped me improve my skills from last year, especially in the backstroke, which is definitely a reason I did so well in that event.”
Alyssa Denis, sophomore, also won a few events, winning the 100-meter Breaststroke as well as the 100-meter Butterfly. She also was part of the 200-meter relay team that won and was the first win of the day for Kirkwood in any of the events.
“Us winning that [relay] really set the tone for the rest of the day, for me and the team,” Dennis said. “It helped us build our confidence up, even more, going into the next events and helped pump up the team.”
Matt Beasley, head coach, praised his team for the amount of teamwork and hard work they put in, not just throughout the State Championship, but during the whole season.
“In a season where there are many ups and downs, this group showed tremendous effort and put in the work necessary to accomplish this historic season,” Beasley said. “Whenever someone on the team was getting on themselves during a practice or a meet, the team came together to bring whoever that person was, and each other up, which was always a great thing to see.”
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