Platte County’s small but concentrated lineup came together and put in a strong showing in this past weekend’s Suburban Conference White Division Championships at Belton High School in Belton. The Pirates won six of 11 swimming races but didn’t quite have the depth to top the team standings.
Platte County freshman Beau Jonkman swims in the 100-yard backstroke final of the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Saturday at Belton High School.
Raytown earned a second straight league title with 455 points, while Platte County totaled 376 in a field expanded to six teams this year with the addition of Truman. Fort Osage and Ruskin did not have entrants.
Platte County seniors Deacon Gutshall and Palmer Keith won two races and set a conference record each, while also combining with senior Cobie Parkin, junior Jack Hokanson and freshman Beau Jonkman to place first in two of three relays. The Pirates received additional key contributions from seniors Zach Linville and Parkin; juniors Finn Smith and Landon Steffel; sophomore Nathan Guzman and Jonkman in individual events to maximize production.
Jonkman even posted a Class 1 MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships state consideration cut for the first time, doing so in the 100-yard backstroke.
Keith set a conference record in the 200 IM at 1 minute, 57.21 seconds in Saturday’s final with Hokanson coming in second at 2:10.38 to give Platte County a sweep of the top spots. Keith added a title in the 100 breaststroke with a season-best of 59.89, currently the No. 6 qualifying mark for state in Class 1.
Platte County senior Palmer Keith finishes first in the 200-yard freestyle relay final of the Suburban Conference White Division Championships while seniors Deacon Gutshall and Cobie Parkin and junior Jack Hokanson celebrate Saturday at Belton High School in Belton.
Keith holds the same spot in the 200 IM with a time set at the COMO Invitational earlier this season.
Gutshall lapped the field in the 500 freestyle with a White Division record of 4:40.27 — just off his career-best of 4:36.65 which currently ranks No. 3 in Class 1. Raytown’s Carson Arnold finished second in Saturday’s final at 5:24.25.
Currently holding the No. 7 Class 1 time in the 200 freestyle, Gutshall also won that event at conference with a 1:47.22, impressive considering second-place Haden Harshman of Grain Valley was more than 5 1/2 seconds behind and Guzman rounded out the top five at 2:12.33.
Gutshall, Keith, Parkin and Hokanson made up Platte County’s 200 freestyle relay, which set a season-best in the finals of 1:31.96. That bettered Raytown, which won Friday’s preliminary, by 0.21 of a second in the meet’s best finish. The Pirates moved to No. 7 in the Class 1 rankings with the winning time.
Platte County also closed the finals with a win in the 400 freestyle from Gutshall, Keith, Hokanson and Jonkman (3:29.25).
In a freshman conference debut, Jonkman also placed fifth in the 50 freestyle (24.62) and fourth in the 100 backstroke at 1:02.78. He posted his state qualifying mark of 1:02.49 and then actually better that at 1:02.11 in a Last Chance Meet this week.
Platte County junior Finn Smith swims in the 200-yard individual medley final of the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Saturday at Belton High School in Belton.
Jonkman currently ranks No. 61 in the event for Class 1 and won’t make the state field, which takes the top 32 times with swimmers limited to two relays, unless not qualified in two individual events. In those instances, swimmers can compete in all three relays.
In addition to finishing second in the 200 IM, Hokansason also claimed second for Platte County in the 100 butterfly with Parkin fourth. He moved up a spot from his preliminary qualifying spot and posted a 1:04.37 in the finals.
Parkin also teamed with Smith, Steffel and Jonkman in Platte County’s 200 medley relay, which finished third (1:04.37). The Pirates optimized the two freestyle relay lineups but still scored well in the other while finishing nearly 100 points in front of third-place Belton.
Platte County now waits until early next week for the official state qualifying list. The Pirates have all three relays clearly in the field with Gutshall and Keith having a choice of two individual events, while Hokanson could join them after doing so last year in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle.
Keith will likely compete again in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke and Gutshall in the 200 and 500 freestyle with both looking to add to all-state credentials while closing out two of the best careers in program history.
