Senior night wasn’t only a special ending to recognize the senior class for the Platte County girls’ swimming team but also a dominant rivalry triumph over Smithville on Jan. 24.
Platte County came out with a huge 900-187 victory on the day. Smithville had less swimmers who competed, which gave Platte County more opportunities to score, and it did.
The Lady Pirates started the day off strong when they had three of the top-4 finishers in the first event, the 200-yard medley relay. Madeleine Stone, Drew Delay, Ireland Shank and Brooklynn Hays were on the first-place team with a time of 2:02.31.
Madeleine Stone also won the first individual event, the 200-yard freestyle, with a time of 2:26.14 and she was followed by three straight teammates: Blair Bolling, Alyson Stone and Janelle Koch. Bolling ended in 2:26.5, Alyson Stone finished in 2:34.57 and Koch ended with a time of 2:56.27.
Hays was the only participant in the 200-yard IM and completed the race with a time of 2:20.99. Platte County had 11 of the top-12 finishers in the 50-yard freestyle, including the first six.
Hays was the first one to finish that race as well, doing so in 27 seconds, followed by Drew DeLay in 27.46 seconds and Lauren Beatty in 27.64 seconds. Madeline Judy finished in fourth place, Ashleigh Cruce took fifth place and Samantha Teufel claimed sixth place.
The 100-yard butterfly was the first event that Platte County didn’t win, but Charlotte Hammond finished in second place with a time of 1:16.23 and Madeleine Stone ended in third place in 1:18.01. The Lady Warriors didn’t have any swimmers in the 100-yard freestyle as the Lady Pirates had six compete, led by Jayden Benninghoff in 1:06.34.
DeLay was the runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle – finishing with a time of 5:52.18 – with Ireland Shank taking third place in 6:18.35 and Judy ended in fourth place with a time of 6:20.46. Platte County had the first three relay teams to finish in the 200-yard freestyle, led by Teufel, Bolling, Judy and Ella Chiddix in 1:59.
Erin Anderson was the first of four Platte County swimmers in the 100-yard backstroke to finish and she ended in 1:25.35. Grace Handke was the runner-up, Evette Brouse was in third place and Lily Fish claimed fourth place.
Smithville took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke, but Platte County took the next five places. Cruce was the second-place swimmer with a time of 1:23.36, followed by Isabel Grell, Rachel Bailey, Cassidy Hostikka and Hannah Miles.
Smithville once again didn’t have a team in a relay – this time in the 400-yard freestyle – with Platte County having all three teams. DeLay, Judy, Beatty and Hays won the race with a time of 4:07.35.
Shank, Hammond, Cruce and Alyson Stone were in second place with a time of 4:31.68. The relay team of Sarah Howe, Hannah Mills, Koch and Brouse claimed third place in 5:31.07.