Platte County repeated as champions of the Suburban Conference Blue Division during the three-day event that concluded on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Gladstone Community Center in Gladstone, Mo.
The Pirates broke a school record in the 200-yard medley relay — the first finals on Saturday — and then used depth and multiple champions to pull away from Kearney to win the title.
Platte County had 518 points, while the rival Bulldogs had 467.
“The girls have worked so hard this year and winning conference was our focus as a team,” Platte County coach Marnie Jenkins said. “This is a very special year for me because these seniors were freshmen when I started coaching at Platte County. My seniors have helped motivate the team all along and they have made this the cohesive team it’s become. I’m so thrilled for the girls and our program. I couldn’t be prouder of the girls.”
CODY THORN/Citizen photo
Platte County’s Shannon Banark competes in the 100-yard butterfly event at the Suburban Conference Blue Division Championships on Friday, Feb. 7 in Gladstone, Mo.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Shannon Banark, Maddie Klippenstein, Lindsey Swindler and Drew DeLay finished in 1:56.18, breaking the school record the team set in the Como Invitational on Jan. 4 of 1:57.01.
That was the first of five championships for the Pirates.
DeLay, Klippenstein, Sophia Zimmerman and Banark won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.30. In the 400 freestyle, Swindler, DeLay, Klippenstein and Banark won in 4:00.03.
DeLay, a freshman, won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:06.84, beating teammate Sage Nichols.
Banark took first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly.
In the 200 IM, the junior led a contingent of Pirates in the top 8, winning in 2:14.96, with Meredith Ballou (third), Emilia Wisniewski (fourth) and Ella Chiddix (fifth) following behind her.
Banark took the win in 1:00.72 in the butterfly and had three teammates in the top eight. Swindler (fifth), Ballou (sixth) and Wisniewski (eighth) also placed for Platte County.
Klippenstein took first in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.19), the first of four Pirates in the top eight. DeLay was the runner-up, Swindler was fourth and Chiddix placed eighth.
Maddie Kunz (third), Erian Stone (fourth) and Ava Jonkman (seventh) all placed in the 100 backstroke.
In the 50 freestyle, Zimmerman placed third, followed by Klippenstein (fourth) and Stone (seventh). Zimmerman was third and Nichols placed fifth in the 100 freestyle. Jonkman was eighth in the 500 freestyle.
PARK HILL
The Trojans finished as the runner-up in the Suburban Conference Gold Division, their highest showing since moving up the largest division.
Park Hill had 421 points, coming in behind Lee’s Summit West’s 453.
The Trojans finished with a pair of champions in the meet, which was held at the same time with the Blue Division.
Freshman Gabby Culp won the 200-yard freestyle (1:58.73) and took second in the 100-yard backstroke, getting an automatic state cut time of 1:00.38.
Arielle Janssens was the winner of the 500-yard freestyle in 5:35.70, followed by Emma Owen in fourth place.
The Trojans were fourth in the 200-yard medley relay with Emma Will, Aspyn Howard, Emily Fickenscher and Leila Kramer getting an automatic state time of 1:56.62.
Culp, Janssens, Howard and Kramer were third in the 200-yard freestyle, which got an automatic state time of 1:45.98.
The 400-yard freestyle team of Janssens, Fickenscher, Will and Culp took third.
Will took third and Jansens took fourth in the 200-yard individual medley. Will added a fourth-place showing in the 100 backstroke.
In other swimming results, Howard was third in the 100-yard breaststroke; Fickenscher was fourth in the 100-yard butterfly and sixth in the 200-yard freestyle and Kramer was seventh in the 50-yard freestyle.
In diving, Jaden Galang was the runner-up, followed by Katie Stephenson (fourth) and Sydney Pratt-Ferber in sixth place.