Cape Central swim coach honored, senior sets record at Cape Rock

By Tony Capobianco ~ Southeast Missourian

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Cape Central swim coach Dayna Powell hugs senior swimmer Phineas Theall before presenting him with a first place medal at Cape Rock on Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Cape Aquatic Center.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Saturday's Cape Rock swim event was one of new records, new ways to honor a legacy, and, most importantly, a new venue.

Cape Central swimming coach Dayna Powell was pleasantly caught by surprise when MSHSAA presented her with the 2023-24 Girls Swim & Dive MSHSAA Coach of the Year Award. Powell led the Lady Tigers to their first-ever Class 1 state championship after three previous years in the top four.

"Honestly, I thought it was so unusual that the MSHSAA official was here because there's never been an MSHSAA official at Cape Rock or City of Roses," Powell said. "It was a big honor, and it's nice to be reminded that the state does recognize that.

Cape Central senior swimmer Phineas Theall set a new meet record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.32 seconds. He also set a new meet record in the 100-yard butterfly (49.75), an event he won the Class 1 state championship a year ago. He was named MVP of the event.

"He continues to refine and develop," Powell said. "Swimming is just so technical with the resistance and everything, and he really refines his body position, his strokes, his starts, and it shows. Coaches today would just turn to me and go, 'Wow.' And the fact that he did the 50y freestyle and then had a 15-minute break only to come back and go 49 in the 100y butterfly speaks volumes, not only because of the speed, but the closeness of those races in proximity was really even more impressive."

The butterfly record was extra special to Theall because the meet's previous record holder broke former Tiger swimmer Brogan Davis' mark.

"Brogan Davis was our fastest butterflier ever and his record was broken here two years ago, and then Finn got it back for us," Powell said.

Davis, who went on to swim collegiately at Auburn, was a part of the Tigers' state championship three-peat that established the program's Mount Rushmore. While one could argue Theall's place in the program's all-time elite, he would've certainly fit in on that legendary group.

"He said as a freshman, and I said this other day, that the group we had that won the state title for three years, it would have been fun for him to be a part of that team," Powell said. "Not everybody gets to be a part of a team like that in high school, and that would have been fun."

Cape Rock was the first major high school event held at the Cape Aquatic Center, formerly known as "The Bubble." The event was previously held at the SEMO Recreation Center pool while renovations were taking place.

Given the reception from the 19-team event, won by St. Louis University High School, the new "Bubble" passed the test.

"I had my reservations in the beginning, but honestly, it turned out really well," Powell said. "We had a lot of compliments from the visiting coaches, and they thought it looked really nice, and they felt like it was a good meet. My question was, is the pool still going to be fast? Because the pool was fast before, and it kind of had that reputation. They've done a lot to the gutter system and things, and I just wasn't sure. But the consensus is, from the coaches, it is still a fast pool, so that's reassuring, and what we did indicates that."

Among the local schools, Notre Dame finished fifth, Cape Central finished ninth and Poplar Bluff finished 10th. While two points separated Cape Central and Poplar Bluff, 0.39 seconds separated the two teams in the 400y freestyle relay, in which the Mules (3:45.03) squad of Cyrus Sagharichi, Owen McDaniel, Connor Wiggs, and Henry Duncan, edged the Tigers (3:45.44) for eighth place and the final medal of the event.

The Notre Dame swim 200-yard medley relay of Kaiden Cracraft, Hudson Dennis, Wade Fullhart and Tom Hasz finished fourth with a time of 1:41.94. The Bulldogs 200-yard freestyle relay of Parker Hulshof, Cracraft, Dennis, and Hasz finished second with a time of 1:36.09.

Hasz finished fourth in the 50y freestyle (23.68) and eighth in the 200y freestyle (1:53.13).

Dennis finished third in the 100y butterfly (54.11) and fourth in the 200y individual medley (2:02.12).

Cracraft finished fifth in the 500y freestyle (4:53.19) and eighth in the 100y breaststroke (1:03.87).