Platte County didn’t worry much about the results, just enjoying the moment and celebrating seniors Jack Hokanson, Finn Smith, Landon Steffel and Jacopo Rossetto.
Platte County senior Jack Hokanson.
Pembroke Hill dominated the individual victories in Tuesday’s short dual at Platte County Community Center North. Platte County shuffled up the relay lineups and events after hosting the traditional senior night activities for a quartet at the top of a small roster. Hokanson, Smith, Steffel and Rosetto actually opted to swim the final three events back-to-back-to-back as a group, also limiting the Pirates’ entries in other events.
With that, Platte County freshman Grisham Gutshall recorded a pair of wins in the 50-yard freestyle (25.00 seconds) and 500 freestyle (5:37.87). He just missed a hitting a state consideration cut in both events. The Pirates took the top two spots in the 500 freestyle with sophomore Beau Jonkman a distant second at 5:54.99 after he took first earlier in the 200 freestyle (2:02.49).
Platte County’s final home meet came after hosting the Platte County Invitational on Saturday at Platte County Community Center North. The Pirates finished sixth out of 13 teams in a final big test ahead of next week’s Suburban Conference White Division Championships.
Platte County senior Finn Smith.
A previous individual state qualifier, Hokanson turned in a career-best in the 200 IM at 2:06.34 to edge Raymore-Peculiar’s Kris Cobb by .06 of a second. Hokanson also moved up to No. 22 on the list of potential Class 1 MSHSAA and Swimming Championships qualifiers. The top 32 in each event make the state field, but swimmers can only go in four total events with a maximum of two individual swims.
Hokanson also won the 100 butterfly in 56.09 with Gutshall right behind at 56.22 to give Platte County a sweep of the top two spots. Gutshall finished first in the 200 freestyle at 1:53.77.
At this point, Hokanson and Gutshall seem the best bet to advance to state in four events and could be Platte County’s lone individual qualifiers, although Jonkman has multiple chances to improve his positioning in the 100 backstroke.
Platte County also made aa big improvement in the 400 freestyle relay with a team of Hokanson, Smith, Gutshall and Jonkman. The Pirates shaved nearly 7 seconds off their season-best time and finished third in 3:43.72 — currently the No. 28 time in Class 1.
With 170 1/2 points, Platte County ended up just 16 1/2 back of Raytown in the top five. The Pirates missed out on critical points after a DQ in the 200 medley relay.
Raytown has won the last two conference titles and have a shot at a three-peat. Platte County’s struggles with depth in recent years have made earning the team title difficult, and the challenge appears similar this year.
