Platte County saw the results for a second straight weekend and now want the momentum to carry over. In one of the state’s biggest meets, the Pirates collected a trio of consolation final finishes but more importantly saw more time drops plus new and improved Class 1 Missouri State Swimming and Diving Championships consideration cuts during the two-day COMO Invitational at Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia.
Platte County senior Madeline Judy enters the water during a recent meet.
The meet took the top eight preliminary finishers from Friday to the championship final and the next eight to the consolation final.
Again leading the way, Platte County all-state junior Brooklynn Hays finished 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke and 15th in the 100-yard freestyle, while the Pirates’ 4×200-yard freestyle relay continued to shave seconds off of an impressive state qualifying time. The team of Hays and seniors Drew DeLay, Lauren Beatty and Madeline Judy placed 16th after qualifying 14th out of the preliminaries.
Hays (1 minute, 9.92 seconds) swam slightly faster in Friday’s 100 breaststroke preliminaries and was just off her season-best, while DeLay just missed a spot in the consolation final at 1:11.56 — only .06 of a second off her current qualifying mark. In the 100 freestyle, Hays also went faster in preliminaries (55.21) than the finals (55.77).
The biggest results came from Beatty and Judy in the 100 freestyle preliminaries and Beatty again in the 50 freestyle. Neither qualified for the finals but each posted at least one individual state cut — their first of the season.
Beatty went 59.90 in the 100 and 26.98 in the 50 to hit state standards for the first time, while Judy now potentially qualifies in the 100 freestyle at 1:00.25. She had a mark in the 50 freestyle as a junior but did not make the eventual final field.
The state takes the top 32 relays and individuals in each event with swimmers limited to two individual and two relay events.
In addition to Beatty in the 50, DeLay set her season-best at 26.30 for Platte County, while Judy (27.36) and junior Jayden Benninghoff (28.18) also put up time drops. The Pirates’ only other new state time came from sophomore Ireland Shank in the 100 butterfly where she posted a 1:04.60 in preliminaries.
Platte County’s 200 freestyle relay took about a half second off the previous season best at 1:44.47 in the preliminaries, but after qualifying 14th, the Pirates finished 16th at 1:45.32. The 200 medley relay team of DeLay, Hays, Shank and sophomore Madeleine Stone just missed a spot in the finals, finishing 20th (1:57.15).
Platte County also won Wednesday’s eight-team meet at Gladstone Community Center, but a computer malfunction made official results unavailable.
Now, Platte County prepares for Senior Night during Tuesday’s home meet at Platte County Community Center North before a lengthy break ahead of the Suburban Conference White Division Championships. The Pirates won the past five Blue Division titles, and despite the move up this year enter as the favorites against Belton, Grain Valley, Raytown and William Chrisman.
