Platte County sophomore Beau Jonkman recorded the first individual state qualifying mark of his career in this past weekend’s Pirate Invitational at Belton High School. The time came in a ninth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke and provided depth to a tie for sixth place in the team standings of the Gold Division.
Platte County freshman Grisham Gutshall swims freestyle during a quad Tuesday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Despite a disqualification in the 400 freestyle relay to close the meet, Platte County put up 128 teams points and finished even with Raymore-Peculiar. The total included a victory for freshman Grisham Gutshall in the 100 butterfly, and the Pirates posted six total consideration cuts for the Class 1 MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships in another strong showing for a small but concentratedly talented roster.
Gutshall continued a standout start to his freshman campaign, finishing in 54.62 seconds to win the 100 butterfly race, and leading a pair of top-five finishes for Platte County in the event. Jack Hokanson, a senior, finished fourth 56.02, and the Pirates now own the No. 6 and No. 13 state qualifying marks in Class 1 for that race after the first two weeks of the season.
In addition, Gutshall came in the 200 freestyle (1:54.70), his second individual event. The career-best time puts him at No. 16 in Class 1.
Platte County opened the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay with combination of senior Finn Smith, Hokanson, Jonkman and Gutshall lowering their season-best to 1:48.57 but marked the only medalist finish for the Pirates’ three relays. That currently ranks 11th in Class 1.
Platte County senior Jack Hokanson swims butterfly during a quad Tuesday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
A state qualifier in individual events each of the past two seasons and honorable mention all-state performer as a junior, Hokanson placed fifth in the 200 IM and lowered his current state qualifying mark to 2:10.93. That puts him at No. 20 in Class 1.
Like Hokanson, Jonkman swam on an honorable mention all-state relay last fall and now hopes to continue to push for an individual berth this year. His first consideration mark currently ranks him outside the top 32 — the number of spots that qualify in each event. However, swimmers can compete in a maximum of two individual races, meaning those outside that cutoff can still advance at the end of the season.
Jonkman finished ninth in a career-best of 1:03.48, just under the qualifying standard of 1:03.79.
Central Quad
Platte County finished second in team points out of the four teams in Tuesday’s meet at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Platte County senior Nathan Guzman swims freestyle during a quad Tuesday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Hokanson and Gutshall recorded two individual victories apiece with one state qualifying mark each, while Platte County counted one victory among three top-two finishes in the relays. The Pirates racked up points with a top-three sweep in the 100 freestyle of Gutshall (54.25), Jonkman (57.21) and Smith (59.40).
The mark for Gutshall gave him another individual state consideration cut, currently ranking No. 33 for that event. He also cruised to an easy win in the 200 freestyle at 2:00.47 but did not need to push anywhere close to his career-best of 1:54.70 that currently ranks No. 16 in Class 1.
Hokanson’s wins came in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.27) with Smith third (1:16.15) and the 100 butterfly (56.55). Hokanson added a state qualifying cut in the breaststroke, currently 34th, while he ended up bettering his time in the butterfly days later at Belton.
Platte County’s relay win came in the 200 freestyle with Hokanson, Smith, Gutshall and senior Jacopo Rossetto (1:46.12), while the Pirates were second in the 400 freestyle and 200 medley. Gutshall, Jonkman and seniors Landon Steffel and Nathan Guzman were on the 400 freestyle team (second, 3:56.69), while Jonkman, Smith, Hokanson and Rossetto were on the 200 medley team (second, 1:56.40).
Jonkman added a runnerup finish in the 100 backstroke (1:07.62) for Platte County, while Guzman turned in a unique combination of third-place showings in the 50 freestyle (27.30) and 500 freestyle (6:31.93).
