Platte County collected three medals, but more importantly another Missouri State Swimming and Diving Championships qualifier, during the Independence Invitational this past weekend. Hannah Havemeier won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1 minute, 10.92 seconds, beating Sarah Vogt of Hickman to the line by nearly a second. That mark made Havemeier the Pirates’ second state qualifier this year, joining Rachel Valentine after she previously qualified in the same event.
Hailee Baer (200 individual medley, 2:29.12) and Olivia Forrester (100 breaststroke, 1:17.38) both recorded seventh-place finishes for Platte County’s other two medals. The Pirates team of Havemeier, Baer, Valentine and Forrester recorded the best relay finish in the 200 medley relay, coming in 11th at 2:06.81
Platte County tied for 11th with Battle in the final team standings out of 21. Both scored 92 points.
Flyer Invitational
Park Hill South swept all three relays and won the team trophy by more than 300 points Saturday, Dec. 19 in St. Louis. The Panthers continued their incredible early start, making or bettering 14 state cuts during the tournament.
That included freshman Taylor Young in 1-meter diving, the second for Park Hill South in that event this season.
Both the 400 freestyle and 200 medley relays set season-best times for Park Hill South, and the Panthers had three swimmers in each of three different events qualify or better qualifying times. In the 100 freestyle, Allison Garrett, Georgia Clark and Paige Riekhof finished within a half second of each other. Garrett beat Clark by just .05 of a second.
Anna Riekhof, Garrett and Kirsten Aken were all closely bunched in the 100 breaststroke, and Tori Beeler, Clark and Garrett all recorded their best qualifying times in the 200 individual medley.
Park Hill South Triangular
Park Hill South recorded or improved six state qualifying cuts during a triangular Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Park Hill District Aquatic Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Overall, the Panthers won nine of 12 events — including all three relays — to record wins against Platte County (146-40) and St. Joseph Central (154-32). Dani Proffitt won the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 231 to earn a return trip to state.
Four swimmers were among the others to post state times.
Beeler, a senior and last year’s co-state swimmer of the year, won the 200-meter freestyle (1 minutes, 56.22 seconds) and 100 butterfly (58.35) for Park Hill South. She now has state cuts in five individual events. Clark, a freshman standout for the Panthers, finished second to Beeler in the 100 butterfly but now has four state cuts with her 1:01.48 finish.
Paige Riekhof, a sophomore, became Park Hill South’s first qualifier in the 500 freestyle (5:23.47), and Garrett now ranks second among four teammates headed to state in the 100 backstroke after her 1:02.24 effort.
Aken was the other individual winner for Park Hill South (100 freestyle).
Platte County also lost to St. Joseph Central (100-72) but did record one win. Havemeier won the 200 individual medley in 2:28.32, finishing just ahead of Valentine.