Kennedy senior Michele Wasta loves to swim and is excited about joining the team at Western Illinois University next year, so she's willing to deal with a little pain.

Wasta has been bothered by sore muscles in her back since she was 13, a problem that may be caused by a minor case of scoliosis at the top of her back. Nobody seems to know for sure.

"There's no permanent solution that we can find yet," Wasta said Tuesday. "I've been going to doctors and chiropractors and anyone we can think of.

"They think it's just sore muscles, tight muscles, a lot of overworked muscles."

Wasta conquered the pain Tuesday with three victories as the Cougars dunked Jefferson, 130-53, in a Mississippi Valley Conference meet at the Jefferson pool.

Wasta won the 50 freestyle and swam on the triumphant 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

She wears KT tape - a special tape for athletes - on her shoulders and back to help ease the pain and relax her muscles when she competes.

"It helps pull my muscles where they need to be," she explained. "I think there's no real cure. Taping it really helps."

Wasta loves swimming too much to give it up. She's been invited to join the Western Illinois swim team as a walk-on and plans to study criminal justice in college.

"You learn how to push through it," she said. "Some meets are a lot worse than others, some days are a lot worse than others."

Wasta thinks the sore back may be a result of swimming her favorite event over the years.

"It sounds crazy," she said, "but my favorite event is the 100 butterfly. I would do it all day if I could."

Indeed, Wasta swam the butterfly on the victorious medley relay.

Kennedy captured seven of 12 events Tuesday and survived another strong showing by Jefferson freshmen Kelsey Drake and Jaylee Chung. Drake won the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke and lifted the J-Hawks to victory in the 200 freestyle relay with a strong anchor.

Chung won the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly and also swam on the 200 freestyle relay.

Larkyn Aldrich was a double-winner for Kennedy in the 100 breaststroke and 200 medley relay.

KENNEDY 130, JEFFERSON 53

200 Medley Relay
1. Kennedy (Botkin, Aldrich, Wasta, Berst) 1:58.92
2. Kennedy (Bagby, Beman, Golden, Harris) 2:01.50
3. Jefferson (Chung, Drake, Anderson, Northrup) 2:01.77

200 Freestyle
1. Jaylee Chung (CRJ) 2:04.12
2. Lydia Yang (CRK) 2:04.30
3. Brooke Timmerman (CRK) 2:07.42

200 IM
1. Sam Jacobsen (CRK) 2:29.17
2. Myah McCoy (CRK) 2:35.55
3. Katie Ferguson (CRK) 2:35.63

50 Freestyle
1. Michele Wasta (CRK) 26.63
2. Brooke Harris (CRK) 27.09
3. Megan Berst (CRK) 27.50

Diving
1. Courtney Fisher (CRK) 194.80
2. Tori Stastny (CRK) 182.90
3. Carolyn Simon (CRK) 182.60

100 Butterfly
1. Jaylee Chung (CRJ) 1:04.30
2. Taylor Golden (CRK) 1:05.66
3. Ally Ballinger (CRK) 1:08.06

100 Freestyle
1. Kelsey Drake (CRJ) 54.58
2. Sam Jacobsen (CRK) 57.69
3. Brooke Timmerman (CRK) 59.47

500 Freestyle
1. Katie Ferguson (CRK) 5:46.45
2. Lydia Yang (CRK) 5:48.83
3. Michele Wasta (CRK) 5:55.19

200 Freestyle Relay
1. Jefferson (Chung, Anderson, Northrup, Drake) 1:47.16
2. Kennedy (Siebenga, Timmerman, Golden, Smith) 1:47.32
3. Kennedy (Botkin, Yang, McCoy, Bagby) 1:48.14

100 Backstroke
1. Kelsey Drake (CRJ) 1:04.07
2. Hannah Botkin (CRK) 1:07.02
3. Maddie Bagby (CRK) 1:08.07

100 Breaststroke
1. Larkyn Aldrich (CRK) 1:16.62
2. Taylor Golden (CRK) 1:18.99
3. Jessica Wesbrook (CRJ) 1:21.01

400 Freestyle Relay
1. Kennedy (Jacobsen, Siebenga, Wasta, Miltner) 4:01.09
2. Kennedy (Bagby, Botkin, Harris, Kenney) 4:02.41
3. Kennedy (Yang, Krueger, Timmerman, Berst) 4:07.20