~ Three relay teams will join the Tigers junior at the state meet.

Last year was the first year Central junior Hannah Kinder swam year-round.

The move paid off, as Kinder established herself as one of the premier swimmers in the state with a pair of third-place finishes at the state meet and plenty of success in national meets as well.

Kinder will attempt to reinforce her status in the swimming community today and Saturday when the state meet begins at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

"I think a lot of people look at Hannah as one of the swimmers to beat," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "I think she will be a top contender. If someone beats her, they'll have to pay a price to beat her because she won't let it happen easily."

Blue Springs sophomore Tarin Corwin and Lafayette junior Marisa Rodriguez finished 1-2 ahead of Kinder in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle last year. Those three will likely be the favorites once again.

Kinder said her state experience last year showed her what she's up against.

"I got to know my competition," she said. "I know who's beaten me and who I've beaten. I know how fast they've swam this year and how fast they can swim. Getting third last year makes me want to win so much more this year."

This year, Kinder posted sizzling times in the 50 free and 100 free at the City of Roses Invitational in early April. Kinder swam the 100 in 52.61 seconds and the 50 in 24.22 seconds, both faster than her state times last year.

Powell said while Kinder definitely will not be a surprise to anyone at the meet, she has the ability to continue to swim faster.

"The only surprise she'd be is when she goes faster than she's already been," Powell said. "I think we're going to see her go faster than she's swam this season."

Kinder has come a long way from the times she posted at the start of her high school career. In earning co-MVP honors at the Show Me Conference Meet as a freshman, Kinder won the 100 free in 58.82 seconds.

"It's fun to keep improving," Kinder said. "I guess that's why you keep swimming."

The Tigers will give Kinder plenty of company this year after qualifying all three relay teams as well. Last year Kinder was the lone Central qualifier.

"I know Hannah's excited about not swimming up there by herself," fellow junior Callie Hoffman said. "It will be a lot of fun, and we help each other to concentrate."

In the 200 medley relay the Tigers will have freshman Annie Wolpers, freshman Jessie Baker, Hoffman and sophomore Katie Bowles. Wolpers, Baker, Bowles and Kinder will swim in the 200 free relay and the 400 free relay.

"We feel like that's our best shot," Powell said of the relay lineups. "We looked at splits of past meets and consistently our 200 free has been our best until conference. I was so pleased with our 400 at conference. If we can drop some time from what we swam at conference we should be able to get one through."

Menz leads ND

Notre Dame's girls swimming team has its own star swimmer competing in the 50 free and 100 free this weekend. Bulldogs freshman Brittany Menz will join Kinder in competing in both individual events.

Menz also will swim with Notre Dame's 200 free relay and 400 free relay.

"She's really strong for a freshman," Notre Dame coach Lenny Kuper said. "You can just see her only improving with three years ahead of her."

Like Kinder, Menz had her pick of events which she could have competed in at state.

"We left it up to her," Kuper said. "She thought about it for a couple of weeks and decided to go with those."

The Bulldogs will bring all three relay teams to the state meet a year after failing to qualify a single swimmer to the state meet. Notre Dame picked up its final state berth in the 200 medley relay in a time trial the week after its conference meet. Lauren Bader will also compete in diving for the Bulldogs.

Ashly Ducharme, Ashley Nenninger, Bader and Mollie Messmer will swim in the medley relay. Ducharme, Nenninger, Messmer and Menz will swim in both the 200 and 400 free relays.

Freshmen Rachel Henson, Abbie Messmer and Jenny Brant, along with sophomore Jordan Seabaugh and senior Eden Ellison, will also make the trip to state as alternates.

Kuper said it is exciting to bring such a large group to the state meet, especially with the mix of younger swimmers and experienced swimmers.

"They've all been working really hard the last couple of weeks," Kuper said. "The youth adds to the energy. I think they're looking forward to doing it [the state meet] again."

Notre Dame swam neck and neck with the Tigers at the conference meet in the two free relays and should have a shot to get through to the second day.

"Who knows what the field's going to be like?" Kuper said. "We're going there wanting to get experience for the underclassmen and a final reward to the upperclassmen."

Saxony sends one

After competing in two meets last year as a team of one, Saxony Lutheran senior Emily Younghouse will end her high school swimming career at the state meet this weekend.

Younghouse helped start the program last year, which added several more swimmers this year with her brother as the coach.

"It's actually been pretty easy," Emily Younghouse said of starting the program. "I've had a lot of help from Mr. [Larry] Cleair, and I've had a lot of support. This year we've had three dedicated girls and my brother was the coach. We couldn't have done it without him."

The swimming program is just one of many sports programs to pop up over the four years of Saxony Lutheran's athletics department. Younghouse, a senior, had been on club teams prior to helping begin the program last year.

"I kind of thought about it, but I really didn't care that much until my junior year," Younghouse said. "I thought it would be neat to do it."

Younghouse will compete in the 500 free and 200 free at the state meet. The 500 free is Younghouse's best event, with her top time this season 5:40.

"I just want to go up there do my best, have fun and represent Saxony Lutheran in a good way," Younghouse said.