ST. PETERS, Mo. — While the none of the Jackson Indians' swimmers made it to the finals in their first year in Class 2, each individual and relay recorded its best time on the season at the MSHSAA State Swimming Championships on Thursday at the City of St. Peters Rec-Plex.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from our team," Indians coach Riley Talbut said. "Every swim was a season-best time and our final placing was higher than than our original seed."

Sophomore Wade Lavalle had the Indians' best finish, placing 23rd in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:05.02. His time was nearly two full seconds faster than his previous season best.

The Indians had three state-qualifying relays, with the 200-yard medley relay — made up of freshman Jan Handke, junior Tim DeYong, senior Luke Tally and Lavalle — placing highest at 24th (1:50.47).

The quartet of senior Kelton Horrell, DeYong, Tally and Lavalle swam the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relays which finished 28th (1:39.70) and 27th (3:43.05), respectively.

Talbut praised his athletes for their improvements in the pool throughout the season.

"It was the cherry on top to a great season as our team continued to improve until the last meet," Talbut said. "Of our five state qualifiers, four had yet to have an opportunity to compete at the state championship level. To see them step up was great really rewarding as a coach.”

Jackson swimmers Tim DeYong, Jan Handke, Wade Lavalle and Kelton Horrell pose for a photo at the SEMO Conference swim meet. The four swimmers competed in the MSHSAA Class 2 State Championships on Thursday.Megan Burke ~ mburke@semissourian.com, file