Halfway through the final day of the Class 1 MSHSSA Swimming & Diving Championships Park Hill South sat on the outside looking in in terms of team points in chasing a trophy.
The Panthers brought a goal of securing a team trophy to St. Peters and thanks to a late surge the mission was accomplished on Friday, Nov. 15.
A seventh-placing showing last year had positioned the Panthers for success this year and they delivered by slowly rising up the rankings. Going into the 400-yard freestyle relay, Park Hill South sat in third place and that is where they finished after tying for fourth in the race.
However, Park Hill South was four points behind defending team champion Cape Girardeau Central and 37 behind eventual state champion Springfield Glendale. Depending on a few factors, the South had an outside shot at claiming the school’s first team title in the sport.
“We had set a goal to get a trophy this year and it was close enough it could’ve been 1st, 2nd, 3rd or fourth,” Park Hill South coach Tim Busenhart said. “It could’ve been anywhere. It doesn’t matter where we ended up as long as we swim well and fast. Everyone went personal bests over the few days and it was a good meet for us. We set goal times and almost everyone achieved their goal time.
“We knew we were a back-of-the-meet team and we were knew all the points were coming up after the sixth race. Our guys knew our stronger parts were in the last four events and that really helped out.”
The final four races were the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke and 400-freestyle relay. In those four races, the Panthers had a third, third, sixth and fourth-place finish, respectively to rack up points.
Panthers dotted the championship and consolation finals on the final day of competition at the Rec-Plex. The team’s depth that led them to winning the Suburban Conference Red Division title earlier this month helped position them for a chance to secure the school’s fourth state team trophy.
The third-place showing this year is the best finish in school history after the Panthers were fourth in 2006, 2008 and 2011. That was back during the one-class system instead of the current two-class configuration.
“It was a really good year and we really rallied again and pushed it further as a team,” said sophomore Alec Enyeart, an all-stater in four events this year. “We have a lot more to come. Going down to the last relay, it was a great battle for second place. Being able to have the depth next year and not losing (many seniors) we will have even more depth and be even better next year in the finals at scoring points.”
The depth was the difference in winning meets locally, but at the state level Glendale flexed its muscle with multiple swimmers in the championship finals, including a Class 1-best three in the 50 freestyle which led to 38 points. The Panthers had three qualifiers in the 500 freestyle and one in championship finals and another in the consolation finals.
“We will probably get stronger and faster and have more depth,” Busenhart said of his roster that will lose only one senior that scored points at state. “You never know what kids will get faster.”
Added junior Ethan Roach, “I think we really need to work in the offseason and come back and show everyone we mean business.”
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of junior Nate Shaw, sophomore Luke Brown, Enyeart and Roach swam 3:12.87 to tie for fourth with Parkway West. That time was good enough for a new school record.
That was the second school record Park Hill South broke.
Roach reset the mark in the 100 freestyle in 45.84, which he took third place. That race was won by Nevada junior Ben Hines, which lines up a good battle heading into next year.
Roach, a transfer from Boca Raton, Fla., was third also in the 100 backstroke in 51.45, while senior Fletcher Burns was 13th for the Panthers.
Roach, Burns and juniors Zander Livingston and Chris Wissmann finished seventh in the first race of the day, the 200 medley relay in 1:39.00.
“It was a great meet and the guys really stepped up,” said Roach, who will start club competition with Team Tsunami this week. “I knew we had the potential here. It is great to see us step up and help the team perform. I came in thinking it would be a little more spread out (compared to Florida) but the state, as a whole, was a lot faster and there is a lot more competition.”
Enyeart was fourth in the 200 freestyle and was the state runner-up in the 500, coming in behind Cape Girardeau Central’s Daniel Seabaugh in both.
Seabugh set a new state record in the 500 freestyle in 4:28.94, while Enyeart finished in 4:35.86. The sophomore closed in a flurry chasing Seabaugh, finishing the final 50 in 27.18 seconds. The previous five laps each took at least 28 seconds. Freshman Derek Long took 10th for Park Hill South in the event — cutting seven seconds off his time in the prelims — and pushed the Panthers into fourth place in the team standings.
The state record belongs to current Arizona State student-athlete Liam Bresette from Lee’s Summit North at 4:24.68. That is a goal that Enyeart already has in his mind to chase over his final two seasons.
“He trained hard to improve in the 500 and 200 and he has been outstanding,” Busenhart said. “He has dropped time throughout the season.”
In the 200, Enyeart finished in 1:42.57 to take fourth, while Seabaugh broke another state record.
Enyeart’s fourth medal came from the 200 freestyle relay, teaming with Shaw, Brown and Livingston to finish in 1:29.21 and place third.
The two final medals earned by Park Hill South came from Livingston in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.15) on Saturday and Greyson Langer in the diving competition on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Langer was the runner-up behind Parkway South’s Brayden Escher, who won by a slim margin, 464.45 to 462.55 points.
After prelims, Escher had a large lead over the junior, 332.25 to 311.85.
“I had a really solid performance for me,” Langer said. “I was a little stressed throughout the meet. It was back and forth and in the end he ended up winning by not even two points. It was really close … it was fun.”
Added Busenhart, “He was fifth going into the eighth round and he had to throw some perfect dives to catch back up and he did. He was close.”
This was only the second time this year that Langer didn’t win a meet, the other was the Como Invitational earlier in the season.
“I’ll work harder and get better,” Langer said. “I had a good season overall, I’m satisfied.”
Wissmann added all-state honors in two other events, the 100 butterfly (11th) and 200 individual medley (10th). He was 14th headed into the finals in the butterfly but moved up a few spots in a race won by Robbie Hill of Oak Park, who secured a new state record.
Brown had the same fortune in his race in the 50 freestyle, taking 13th overall. That race was won by Nevada’s Ben Hines, who also set a new state record.
The Panthers had a handful of competitors in prelims that didn’t make it through.
Junior Finn Hefferen was 28th in the 200 individual medley and 29th in the 100 breaststroke; Burns took 25th in the 100 freestyle; Shawn was 23rd in the 100 backstroke; junior Clell Burdiss was the third competitor in the 500 for the Panthers and took 18th; senior Wyatt Morgan was 27th in the 100 butterfly and three Panthers were in the 200 freestyle with Shaw taking 17th, Long in 18th and Livingston in 22nd.