Platte County senior Ashleigh Cruce capped an accomplished career with a second straight honorable mention all-state performance but by the slimmest of margins.
In Friday’s preliminaries for the Class 1 MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Cruce finished 16th in the 100-meter butterfly and claimed the final spot in the consolation final. She held that placement as the Pirates’ lone swimmer to compete Saturday at RecPlex in St. Peters, Mo.
Cruce accounted for Platte County’s lone team point, a year after she collected two after finishing 15th in the 100 butterfly consolation.
In addition, Platte County juniors Mackenzie Johnson and Ronnie Benford plus standout freshman Remi Woolard all competed in individual events at state for the first time. The Pirates used those four along with senior Erin Anderson and juniors Alex Yurko and Lillian Talbot across three qualifying relays.
Cruce competed in two individual events at state for a third straight year. She came in 22nd in the preliminaries of the 100 butterfly as a sophomore, moved into an honorable mention all-state spot as a junior and repeated that accomplishment this past weekend.
A preliminary time of 1 minutes, 4.39 seconds did just enough for Cruce, who came in slightly slower at 1:05.30 in the consolation final. Both were off her sub-1:04 season-best time while she went 1:02.81 for a career-best in last year’s state placement race.
A year ago, Platte County sent only Cruce in an individual event, while this year’s state contingent included qualifications for Johnson (200 IM and 500 freestyle), Woolard (200 freestyle and 500 freestyle) and Benford (100 breaststroke).
Johnson just missed a top-16 preliminary time in the 500 freestyle, coming in 18th at 5:48.75. Her season-best of 5:43.68 would have been good enough for a spot in the consolation final.
In the 200 IM, Johnson came in 21st (2:25.64).
Woolard’s preliminary finishes were 29th in both the 200 freestyle (2:15.37) and 500 freestyle (6:00.89). Cruce (30th, 1:17.78) and Benford (31st, 1:20.52) were back-to-back as Platte County’s two qualifiers in the 100 breaststroke. Cruce moved up one spot after being 31st in preliminaries in the same event each of the past two seasons.
A year ago, Benford and Johnson were in a group for Platte County to hit state consideration cuts but were not in the top 32 in any event.
Platte County sent all three relays but didn’t have any breakthrough performances. The Pirates were off their season-best in all three preliminary races.
The 200 medley team of Cruce, Johnson, Benford and Yurko posted Platte County’s best showing (22nd, 2:04.33). With swimmers limited to a maximum of four events with no more than two individual races, the Pirates gave Talbot a state debut in the 200 freestyle relay along with Cruce, Anderson and Woolard in a 29th-place showing (1:56.34).
Platte County’s 400 freestyle of Johnson, Benford, Yurko and Woolard came in 29th in preliminaries at 4:10.98.
Cruce and Johnson were on Platte County’s 200 medley relay last season, while Anderson and Yurko made state debuts on the 400 freestyle relay team that also included Benford and Johnson. Cruce also swam on the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays at state as a sophomore, while Johnson and Benford were on a 27th-place 400 freestyle team as freshmen.
Platte County graduates just three seniors in Cruce, Anderson and Janelle Koch, who served as a relay alternate this past weekend. The rest of the more experienced state core returns next season to chase more state success and a return to the top of the Suburban Conference White Division. The Pirates finished second this season after winning straight titles — four in the Blue Division and then three straight after moving up a tier in the Suburban League.
