Platte County won its first meet in two years, topping the field at Smith-Cotton High School’s Joe Arbisi Tiger Invitational on Oct. 11 in Sedalia, Mo.The Pirates topped an 11-team field with a big push from a sweep of the top three spots in 1-meter diving. They scored 383 points to fend off second-place Hannibal by 11 points.
Overall, Platte County won three events and benefited from maxing out entries in every event.
Justin Richardson topped the diving field, which included only the three Platte County entrants with a score of 321.50. Bryce Bearden came in second for the Pirates with 293.05, and Bradley Bearden was third at 284.35.
Platte County’s John Cogdill won the 200-yard individual medley in 2 minutes, 13.55 seconds, besting the field by nearly 9 seconds. In the 50 freestyle, Nick Kunels’ 23.95 finish edged Raymore-Peculiar’s Billy Crain by .07 of a second for the Pirates’ other individual title.
Medals were given to the top six individuals in each event and the top three relays. Overall, the Pirates grabbed 12, including multiple medals for five swimmers.
Bradley Bearden led the way with four, adding a fifth in the 200 freestyle and swimming a leg on the third-place 200 freestyle relay along with Cogdill, Dalton Huntley and Connor St. Louis and the second-place 400 freestyle relay with Josh Richardson, St. Louis and Kunels.
Josh Richardson and Cogdill also won three apiece.
In addition to his victory and the 200 relay, Cogdill came in third in the 100 breaststroke. Josh Richardson was third in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 200 IM along with the medal-winning relay leg.