Platte County’s Alex Beall continues to add to his banner swim team season.
The senior not only lowered his school record in the backstroke, he also set a new Suburban Conference Blue Division record during the championships held Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 25-27, in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
In that same meet, Baxter Stone (breaststroke) and Rhett Spell (50 freestyle) automatically qualified for the state meet for the Pirates.
Beall posted a time of 53.87 in the 100 backstroke and easily continued to lower the record of 55.16 he broke on Sept. 4. Beall was second in the 100 freestyle (48.78).
Spell won the 50 freestyle in 22.66 to punch his ticket to St. Peters, Mo., where the state meet will be held from Thursday to Saturday, Nov., 8 to 10.
Platte County took second in the 200 medley (team of Beall, Stone, Ryan Dye and Spell swam 1:42.60) and in the 400 freestyle (team of Spell, Dye, Stone and Beall finished in 3:25.40). Dye was second in the 100 backstroke.
Stone was third in the 100 breaststroke for the Pirates, who was second with 446 points. Kearney won with 574 points.
Suburban Gold
Park Hill picked up a Suburban Conference Gold Division swim team title by six points in Lee’s Summit, Mo., edging Lee’s Summit West, 437 to 429.
The Trojans had only two conference champions, but used depth to pile up points.
Nick Dieffenbach won the 100 freestyle (47.21), while the 400 freestyle team finished in 3:17.40 to take first. That team was Hunter Dieffenbach, Alex Dunlevy, Sam Duesterhaus and Nick Dieffenbach.
Park Hill added a second in the 200 freestyle relay (Hunter Dieffenbach, Alex Dunlevy, Jacob Fickenscher and Nick Dieffenbach) and third in the 200 yard medley relay (Duesterhaus, Ray Fugett, Patrick Lee and Fickenscher).
The Trojans had second- and third-place finishes in the 500 freestyle (Alex Dunlevy and Fickenscher) and 200 freestyle (Duesterhaus and Fickenscher).
Duesterhaus was third in the 100 backstroke and Nick Dieffenbach took third in the 50 freestyle.
The conference title was the 11th in Park Hill’s history - the first since 2014 — and the first since moving up to the Gold Division.
Red Division
Park Hill South took second place at the Suburban Red Division swim finals held Oct. 25-27 at the Gladstone Community Center. The Panthers had 343 points, coming in a distant second to Liberty, which had 602.
Park Hill South had five second-place finishes, two of them coming in relays.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Luke Brown, Zander Livingston, Fletcher Burns and Isaac Lee finished in 1:32.89. The 200 medley team of Burns, Livingston, Lee and Alec Enyeart was second in 1:42.53.
Lee added a second in the 100 freestyle and Livingston was second in the 100 breaststroke.
Enyeart and Clell Burdiss took second and third, respectively, in the 500 freestyle.
The 400 freestyle team of Enyeart, Nate Shaw, Burdiss and Brown was third.
State meet
MSHSAA released its list of state qualifiers on Tuesday for the state swimming championships this Friday and Saturday in St. Peters, but the results for each swimmer hasn’t been released it.
In Class 2, Park Hill will be represented by freshman Ray Fugett, sophomores Sam Brook, Jacob Fickenscher and Aden Roberson; juniors Alex Dunlevy and Mark Foster and seniors Hunter Dieffenbach, Nick Dieffenbach, Sam Duesterhaus, Patrick Lee and Michael Strube.
Platte County and Park Hill South will have plenty at the state meet.
The list for the Pirates include seniors Alex Beall, Ethan Cupp, Philip Davis, Cameron Osborn, Connor Green, juniors Brice Bills, Blake Lewis, Joe Ragone, Rhett Spell and Baxter Stone and sophomores Luke Harms, Ryan Dye, Jacob Flynn and Matteo Herrera.
Park Hill South’s ledger features freshman Luke Brown, sophomores Clell Burdiss, Finn Hefferen, Greyson Langer, Zander Livingston, Nate Shaw and Chris Wissmann; junior Fletcher Burns and senior Isaac Lee.