Platte County senior Meredith Ballou reached the medal stand for the Lady Pirates in her last event as a high schooler at the Missouri Class 1 Swim and Diving Championships on Friday, Feb. 18, at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
Ballou finished eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke event with a time of 1:11.18 and entered the championships with a qualifying time of 1:09.41. Ballou’s best time was in the preliminary round where she swam a time of 1:08.72.
The senior also competed in the 200-yard individual medley (IM) and entered the championships with a qualifying time of 2:17.02 and finished the event in 14th place with a time of 2:18.15. Ballou was the only Lady Pirate to reach the medal stand but she had plenty of company in the breaststroke where teammates sophomore Brooklynn Hays and junior Drew Delay also competed.
Hays entered the championships with a qualifying time of 1:10.68 and finished 11th with a preliminary round time of 1:09.58. Delay entered the championships with a qualifying time of 1:09.75 and finished 15th with a preliminary round time of 1:10.72.
Both also competed in the 50-yard freestyle event. Hays entered the championships with a qualifying time of 25.45 and finished 12th with a time of 25.58. Delay entered the championships with a qualifying time of 25.65 and finished 25th with a time of 25.86 in the preliminary round.
A pair of freshmen made their state championships for Platte County: Madeleine Stone and Ireland Shanks. Madeleine Stone competed in two events, including the 200-yard IM event where she entered the championships with a qualifying time of 2:25.88 and finished 29th with a time of 2:28.50 in the preliminary round.
Platte County’s Brooklynn Hays, above, finished 11th with a preliminary round time of 1:09.58 in the breaststroke at the Missouri Class 1 Swim and Diving Championships at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
Stone also competed in the 100-yard backstroke event where she entered the championships with a qualifying time of 1:05.45. The freshman finished 22nd with a time of 1:05.72 in the preliminary round.
Shanks competed in the 100-yard butterfly event and entered the championships with a qualifying time of 1:04.88 and finished 28th with a time of 1:05.48 in the preliminary round. All three relay teams competed at the state championships including the 200-yard medley team of Stone, junior Blair Bolling, Shanks, and junior Madeleine Judy that finished 22nd with a preliminary time of 2:02.25.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Ballou, Judy, Delay, and Hays competed in the consolation finals and finished 11th with a time of 1:44.08. The 400-yard relay team of Ballou, Stone, Delay and Hays also raced in the consolation finals and finished tenth with a time of 3:49.36.