The Nixa swimming and diving team concluded its 2023 season by competing in the 2023 MSHSAA Class 2 State Championships meet on Nov. 10-11 at the St. Peter's Rec-Plex in St. Peter's, Mo.

Nixa qualified in all three relay events. Junior Gavin Jessen qualified individually in the 100-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle.

32 swimmers in Missouri jumped in the waters for the preliminary rounds on Nov. 10, and then 16 capped off the finals on Nov. 11.

In the preliminary competition, Nixa swam to a strong performance but could not reach the final rounds.

The 200-medley relay team of Levi Crow, Quinn Cates, Ethan Gordon, and Brayden Sanders kicked off the preliminaries for Nixa. The team placed 27th overall at 1:54.26. Gordon and Sanders swam the third and fourth legs and propelled the team to its finish with sub 30 times. Gordon finished 26.25 and Sanders 25.01, respectively.

Jessen competed next for the Eagles in the 100 fly and barely missed out on a berth in the finals. He clocked in at 54.36 with splits of 25.15 and 29.21 and finished 19th overall, setting a season-best time.

Following the 100 fly, Jessen had a one-event break to regroup quickly and competed in one of the most challenging and enduring competitions, the 500-yard freestyle. He set another season-best and touched the wall in his final stride at 5:02.88, placing 24th overall.

The 200 and 400-free relay teams concluded Nixa's qualifiers at state. The 200 team of Gordon, Cates, Crow, and Jessen placed 26th overall with a season-best time of 1:36.88. Cates (23.33) and Jessen (23.49) had the fastest legs with sub-24 times, leading the team to its finish. The team shredded 0.80 seconds of its previous best. 

The same four competed in the 400-free relay and placed 23rd at 3:32.27, dropping 0.42 seconds to set a season-best. Gordon swam the opening leg with a time of 52.53, Cates followed at 52.68, Crow was next at 57.18, and Jessen anchored the relay with a team-best 49.88.

Click here for the entire Class 2 swimming results.