Small Zizzer squad swims to eighth place at SWMO championships

Published 11:01 am Wednesday, November 4, 2026

The West Plains Zizzers boys swimming and diving team placed eighth out of 21 teams at the Southwest Missouri Championships, held Thursday through Saturday in Springfield.

Springfield Glendale captured the team title.

West Plains Head Coach Ryan Smith said every member of the team contributed to the outcome.

“The Zizzers had a great weekend of swimming and diving,” Smith said. “With only six athletes and 13 total entries, they outperformed several larger teams. Every swimmer and diver had great performances.”

Alec Morrison captured two medals, breaking the one-minute barrier in the 100-yard butterfly (59.03) to take fourth place. He also finished fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.49), improving his state rankings in both events.

Rhys Kerley dropped 13 seconds in the 500 freestyle to post a season-best time and improve his state ranking. Fighting through illness during the finals, Kerley clocked 5:24.61 for fifth place.

Matthew Stewart continued to shave time in the 500 freestyle, dropping 14 seconds just one week after shedding 27. He clocked a 6:13.35 for 15th place. Dane Kirby also found success in the 500 freestyle, posting a personal-best 6:39.02 in the preliminaries and nearly matching it in the finals (6:39.05) to finish 17th.

During Friday’s preliminaries, Tanner Land recorded a personal-best time in the 100 backstroke (1:06.26) for 10th place. He later led off the finals of the 400 freestyle relay with a personal-best 100 freestyle split, earning a state consideration cut. The 400 freestyle relay team placed eighth overall with a time of 3:45.17.

In the 200 medley relay, Morrison, Kirby, Land and Stewart placed 11th with a time of 2:02.34.

In Thursday’s diving championship, Chance Bradfute earned his second-best score of the season while adding two high-difficulty dives to his list. Smith noted the increased degree of difficulty would benefit Bradfute heading into the district diving meet at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at North Kansas City High School.

Official state qualifiers will be announced Sunday. The state championships are scheduled for Nov. 13 and 14 at the St. Peters Rec-Plex, with diving events beginning at 9 a.m. and swimming events at 3 p.m.

Editor’s note: The print version of this article, which appeared in the Wednesday, Nov. 4, edition of the Quill incorrectly listed the day of the district diving meet. The information has been corrected.