Central swimming coach Dayna Powell has anxiously been waiting for this opportunity.

Powell watched a pair of talented swimmers rise through the middle-school ranks, showing glimpses of what they might be capable of accomplishing at the varsity level.

Those two swimmers, freshmen Brogan Davis and Sam Hahs, have been key components to the resurgence of the Tigers' boys swimming team, which won six of 11 events at the Show Me Conference Meet last Thursday to claim first place as a team.

Now the opportunity has arrived as Central will have six swimmers at the boys swimming and diving championships, which start with preliminaries today at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters, Missouri.

"Sam and Brogan came into a team that had some speed and some events covered, but they have just helped the whole level of the team go up," Powell said. "... What's fun is to see these freshmen immediately embrace the whole high school team concept that we have."

With less than one full season under his belt, Davis is quickly becoming one of the most decorated swimmers in the school's history.

Davis set the school record in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1:57.68 at the conference meet and broke the school record in the 100 backstroke before breaking that same record later in the year.

Powell insists Davis has yet to reach his maximum potential and said that history indicates a young and talented nucleus isn't rare for the Tigers' program.

"The first 10 years of the program, we were fortunate enough to be top 10 in state every year, and we've always had some high-level state competitors," said Powell, who's in her 25th year as coach at Central. "It's fun to see that tradition continue and go into this meet with some chances to swim the second day. That's really exciting."

Davis and Hahs will each compete in the maximum four events allowed at state, including Davis in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly and Hahs in the 100 breastroke and 500 freestyle.

The two freshmen will be joined by junior John Young and senior Christian Retter in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

"We've accomplished a lot since the beginning of the year," Young said. "At the beginning of the year, everyone was practically drowning in the pool at the first practice, but now we're doing just fine."

Hahs settled for a pair of close second-place finishes at the conference meet, but Powell said she's been impressed by Hahs' development in his first season.

"He's already swimming almost as fast as our school records, and he's barely 14," Powell said. "... Sam fought the battle at conference. We knew going into conference that no race was going to be easy, and that was our goal. If someone was going to beat us, we wanted to push that person. Sam had a heck of a 500 [freestyle] and [100] breaststroke and just brought it home."

Hahs understands the magnitude of competing at state and doesn't shy away from the challenge.

"It's a championship meet. I'm used to the atmosphere. I kind of know how to handle it, how to prepare mentally and physically," Hahs said. "At the beginning of the season, I wasn't as focused as I am now. It was the beginning of the season, and everyone was just starting off. Throughout the season, I've kind of developed a championship mindset."

The Tigers' only swimmer with experience at state is Retter, who believes the younger swimmers on the squad will handle themselves just fine.

"They're studs for us. They do great," Retter said about his freshmen teammates. "When we're getting ready for a meet in bigger invitationals, we do great. We just have a really solid team, and we know exactly how to play to our strengths."

Jackson will send four swimmers to today's state meet, including seniors Joey Janisse and Austin Hobbs. Janisse will compete individually in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke, while Hobbs will swim in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. The two seniors will be joined by sophomore Jack Gard and sophomore Tra Statler in the 200 medley relay, and Gard will individually compete in the 500 freestyle.

"Jackson has some really good top speed with Joey Janisse and Austin Hobbs, and we knew they would be tough to beat wherever they were," Powell said about facing the Indians at Thursday's conference meet. "... We're really glad that they're going. Joey and Austin are both seeded in really good positions.

"Southeast Missouri's going to have an impact at the state level this year, and we'll be turning some heads. That's really fun for an area that doesn't get a lot of publicity. People sometimes don't even know where we're from in the state. Those big schools in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield get a lot of attention. We'll have some kids from this area right in the thick of things, I think. These kids all train together. They all know each other, so we want everybody to be successful and just have a great meet."

The Tigers will also be represented by Young, Retter, junior Davis Deimund and junior Reed Dickson in the 200 freestyle relay. Following today's preliminaries, finals and consolations are slated to begin Saturday.

Youth will be no excuse for Central, and Powell isn't willing to settle for mediocrity. She wants more than just a moral victory.

"I'd like to say, 'We just want to go up and have a good experience and learn from it,' but we want to go up there and make some noise," Powell said. "We want to get some people back the second day and just do some things we haven't been able to do the last couple years.

"We're on a mission."