Park Hill South came in third place in the 22-team North Kansas City Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Gladstone Community Center in Gladstone, Mo.
Two top-five relays led the way for the Panthers with the 200-yard medley (Jackson Garrett, Cody Beeler, Daniel Miller and Isaac Lee) coming in fourth at 1 minute, 43.19 seconds and the 200 yard freestyle (Lee, Beeler, Miller and Patrick Hefferren) split points with Lee’s Summit West in a third-place tie at 1:33.55.
Miller took Park Hill South’s only individual title, winning the 100 breaststroke by more than a full second, and he placed third in the 50 freestyle (22.70). Garrett also posted a pair of top-five finishes for the Panthers as the runnerup in the 100 backstroke (54.19) to go with his fourth-place showing in the 200 individual medley.
Park Hill South totaled 223 points, just 16 back of second-place Kearney.
Platte County junior Caden DeLay came in third behind Miller in the 100 breaststroke, but the Pirates’ lone qualifier thus far for the Missouri State Swimming and Diving Championships lowered his cut in the event. DeLay came in at 1:03.77 to drop .20 off his previous time.
In the team standings, Platte County came in 13th with 60½ points.
Raytown quad
Platte County finished second out of four teams in a trip to Raytown, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, and DeLay nearly added an event to his state list in the process.
DeLay won the 100 freestyle in 51.21, edging Raytown’s Jordan Atkins by 0.11 of a second. The mark put the Pirates junior about a second away from the state cut. He previously qualified in the 100 breaststroke for a second straight season earlier in the year.
In addition, DeLay won the 200 freestyle (1:55.77).
Jerry Orozco took Platte County’s other two individual titles. He won the 100 butterfly in 59.18 and topped teammate Joe Ragone by nearly 6 full seconds in the 100 breaststroke.
Park Hill 93, Kearney 90
The Trojans won a dual meet Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Park Hill District Aquatic Center in Kansas City, Mo., showing off their depth.
Park Hill only won two out of 12 events — the 200 medley relay of Evan Donnelly, Zack O’Connor, Thor Mardis and Nick Dieffenbach and Mark Foster in the 1-meter diving competition. The Trojans had all three entries in diving, scoring 13 points that helped decide the team outcome.
Park Hill South 157, Lee’s Summit 139
The Panthers also found a way to win a dual with just two event victories Tuesday, Sept. 13 in Lee’s Summit, Mo. Garrett won the 100 backstroke in 54.09 and also swam on the victorious 200 medley relay team, which also included Beeler, Lee and Ethan Wissman.