ND's Kuper makes finals in 2 events

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- Notre Dame junior Jameson Kuper set himself up for a chance at a state title with a pair of stellar performances Friday on the opening day of the state swimming meet at the St. Peters Rec Plex.

Kuper tied for second in the preliminaries of the 200-yard freestyle and finished third in the 100 breaststroke. In the 200 free, an event in which he finished eighth in the state as a freshman, Kuper finished in 1 minute, 45.40 seconds, nearly five seconds faster than his seed time and 2.6 seconds faster than his personal best.

In the breaststroke Kuper finished third with a time of 59.90, less than one-half second behind the top finisher in the preliminaries. Kuper's time in the breast was 2.1 seconds faster than his personal best. Kuper is guaranteed to be all-state in both events, as the top eight swimmers in the preliminaries earn all-state honors.

"He's just hitting it tonight," Notre Dame coach Lenny Kuper said. "We're all very excited."

Central was able to get two of its three relay teams through to the second day of competition. The Tigers finished 14th in the 200 medley relay and 15th in the 200 free relay. Teams which finish ninth through 16th in the preliminaries will compete against each other today and are considered honorable mention all-state.

The 200 medley relay team of Daniel Austin, Peyton Waggener, Jason Mercer and Hunter Givens finished in a time of 1:44.87.

"Our medley relay team did a phenomenal job," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "They hit their goal time, which made us happy."

The 200 free relay team of Kris Metje, Austin, Givens and Mercer finished in 1:33.38. Central just missed qualifying for today's competition in the 400 free relay after finishing 17th. Metje, Austin, Waggener and Givens posted a time of 3:29.31.

Metje had the best individual performance in the preliminaries, finishing 20th in the 500 free in 5:02.81. Metje also finished 32nd in the 200 free in 1:53.40.

Mercer finished 25th in the 50 free in 23.42 and 30th in the 100 butterfly in 57.92. Givens finished 31st in the 100 free in 51.50.