In the first dual against rival schools in 2023, the Park Hill South girls’ swimming team defeated Park Hill 123-63 at the Park Hill Aquatic Center on Jan. 17.
Park Hill South set the tone for the night in the first event, the 200-yard medley relay. Park Hill only had one relay team finish the race – with Ava Hughbanks, Alysa Schieber, Avery Whalen and Karis Barton earning third place with a time of 2:05.24 – as the Lady Panthers had seven of the top-8 teams.
Park Hill South’s Ella Turley was on the fifth-place 200-yard medley relay team on Jan. 17.
The Park Hill South relay team of Lizzie Landuyt, Zella Berberich, Bella Knittig and Charlotte Sander won the race in 1:58.60. In the next race, the 200-yard freestyle, Barton helped Park Hill out with a first-place finish in 2:27.23.
The Lady Trojans also had the third and fourth place finishes with Layla Nelson finishing in 2:33.22 and Brileigh Wilkens ending in 2:35.73. Park Hill South’s Morgan Roberts took second place in 2:29.8 and Annike Versfeld ended in fifth place with a time of 2:37.96.
Hughbanks had a big day for Park Hill, albeit in losing fashion, as she won two events. Hughbanks finished the 20-yard IM in 2:28.30 and the 100-yard butterfly in 1:04.51.
Park Hill South dominated the other individual events, as Whalen was the only other Lady Trojan to win any event. She came out on top in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:24.54.
Ava Sullivan was right behind her teammate, ending in second place with a time of 1:24.9. Sullivan also ended in fourth place in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:16.35.
For Park Hill South, McKelvey McDaniel had a second-place finish in the 200-yard IM in 2:29.73 and was followed by four consecutive teammates: Melania Puszczak, Reese Dugan, Macy Strobel and Ayla Ringo. Sander and Natalie Dunaway ended in the top-2 spots in the 50-yard freestyle as they both ended in less than 26 seconds.
In diving, Megan Wells came out on top with a score of 242.75 and was followed by seven teammates. Kyra Smail was the only Lady Trojan to dive as she finished in ninth place with a score of 149.55.
After diving, Park Hill South had two of the top-3 finishers in the 100-yard butterfly. Alyssa Gordon finished in 1:05.38 and Hannah Peterson ended in 1:11.94.
Brook Nichols was the first of three Lady Panthers to crack the top-4 in the 100-yard freestyle as she won the race in 58.23 seconds. Elisa DeCaro took second place and Riley Propes claimed fourth place as Park Hill’s Whalen earned third place.
Landuyt gave Park Hill South another first place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, completing the race in 5:36.29. Avery Roach was the next finisher in 6:02.14 and Katie Jones ended in third place in 6:24.81.
Berberich won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:08.08, followed by Ruby Livingston in 1:08.6. Megan Humiston ended in third place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:32.97, immediately followed by Norah Zink in 1:37.25.
Park Hill South dominated in the final two relays as well, having seven of the nine 200-yard freestyle teams and six of the eight 400-yard freestyle relay teams. Dunaway, DeCaro, McDaniel and Sander won the 200 with a time of 1:45.47, while Nichols, Gordon, Peterson and Landuyt won the 400 with a tine of 3:52.25.