SPRINGFIELD – Tyler Morris and Brian Baggette have done much to establish the Edwardsville High School boys swimming program.
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Morris and Baggette swam their final meets as Tigers Saturday, both unable to reach this coming weekend's IHSA Boys Swimming Championship meet at New Trier High School in the Chicago-area suburb of Winnetka. Both were on the second-place 4x50 and 4x100 freestyle relay teams, while Baggette took third in the 500 freestyle, missing the state qualifying standard by just 1.15 seconds in the race after having qualified for the 2016 state meet in the event.
“It was a great way to go out with all the guys,” Baggette said. “I'm not going to get too upset about (just barely missing qualifying for the state meet); whatever happens, happens. My split in the 200 (freestyle relay) was definitely good, but overall I had a decent performance today.
“This is definitely the best team we've ever had at EHS; I'm just honored to be a part of it.”
“I didn't get the state qualifying time, but Coach (Christian Rhoten) moved me to lead off the 200 (freestyle relay) and I got the (YMCA) nationals time in that event. I was really happy with the outlook of today and the results of that event.
“The team today did an amazing job overall; we're a really tight-knit, close bunch of guys. I'll have memories of swimming with my team.”
Both Morris and Baggette will be swimming with McKendree University in Lebanon starting next season. “We're (Morris and Baggette) really excited about that,” Morris said.
“I'm looking forward to the next four years so much,” Baggette said about the future and being able to swim with Morris with the Bearcats. “These guys coming up (in the EHS program) are going to be absolutely amazing; I can tell by their work ethic and the way they perform – even today – they're something special.
