When the Lady Pirates took to the water to compete, the Platte County girls’ swimming team was unable to defeat Belton, losing 848-665 on Jan. 11.
Platte County started the competition off strong in the 200-yard medley relay finishing in first place with a time of 2:05.09. The four swimmers who were on the first-place relay team were Erian Stone, Brooklynn Hays, Ireland Shank and Madeline Judy.
Drew Delay, Meredith Ballou, Judy and Hays led the way in the 200-yard freestyle relay, finishing with a time of 1:48.40. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Lauren Beatty, Blair Bolling, Charlotte Hammond and Stone ended in first place in 4:33.01.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Maria Molinari and Cassidy Hostikka finished in fourth and fifth places with times of 2:41.06 and 2:49.39, respectively. Bolling was the fastest swimmer in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing with a time of 2:39.40.
Platte County had nine of the top-12 finishers in the 50-yard freestyle, including the first three finishers: Ballou in 26.56 seconds, Delay in 26.65 seconds and Judy in 28.09 seconds. Belton had the first-place swimmer in the 100-yard freestyle but was followed by four consecutive Platte County swimmers in Shank, Beatty, Molinari and Emilee Handke.
Platte County also had a solid outing in the 100-yard breaststroke with the first five finishers and nine of the top-12. Ballou finished in first place with a time of 1:15.19, followed by Stone, Shank, Jayden Benninghoff and Evette Brouse.