Platte County’s depth couldn’t quite overcome impressive top-end talent this time around. The Pirates finished second in this past weekend’s Suburban Conference White Division Championships at Belton High School, ending a streak of dominance that lasted nearly a decade.
Grain Valley came away with the team title with 555 points in what became a predictable head-to-head battle.
Platte County’s streak of seven straight conference championships came to an end with the Pirates finishing second at 502 and Belton a distant third at 256 in the six-team field. Ruskin and Fort Osage did not have entrants.
Grain Valley won 10 of 12 events overall, including a sweep of the three relays. The Eagles’ six individual championships were evenly split between Kate Epple, Ellie Martin and Kalli Beard.
Platte County junior Mackenzie Johnson (500-yard freestyle) and Truman’s Sadie Lee (100-yard backstroke) were the only individuals to win a race.
Similar to a year ago, Platte County used diverse contribution from 12 different medalists with senior Ashleigh Cruce; juniors Ronnie Benford, Alex Yurko and Johnson; and freshmen Remi Woolard and Sarah Lanier all posting top-three finishes in swimming events, while freshman Khloe Niehaus scored valuable points as a runnerup in 1-meter diving. All six of the swimmers were top-six medalists in two individual races as were senior Erin Anderson (500 freestyle and 100 backstroke) and sophomore Penelope Thompson (200 IM and 100 butterfly).
Platte County senior Janelle Koch (200 freestyle) and juniors Vivienne Sayre (200 freestyle) and Thais Thompson (50 freestyle) also medaled.
Johnson’s comfortable victory in the 500 freestyle came in a career-best 5 minutes, 43.68 seconds, improved her consideration cut for the Class 1 MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships and led three finishers in the top four for Platte County in the event. Lanier came in third (6:22.86) for the Pirates, who closed the gap but ended up fading from there.
The strong performances from Grain Valley’s Epple, Martin and Beard showed with Johnson (2:23.37, 200 IM) posting a new season-best time with a runnerup finish. In addition, Friday’s prelims saw Woolard improve her Class 1 standing in both the 100 freestyle (59.44) and 200 freestyle (2:08.82) while Yurko posted an individual state cut for the first time in her career in the 50 freestyle (27.29).
Woolard placed second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle finals, while Yurko was second in the 50 freestyle.
One of just three seniors on Platte County’s roster, Cruce entered as the defending conference champion in the 100 breaststroke but finished second (1:16.67) behind Martin in the event this season. Cruce added a runnerup showing in the 100 butterfly (1:03.95).
Platte County finished as runnerup in all three relays, a year after a victory in the opening 200 medley race provided the start needed to fend off Grain Valley. The Pirates’ 200 medley team of Cruce, Benford, Johnson and junior Lillian Talbot placed second in 2:03.11, while the 400 freestyle relay of Johnson, Benford, Yurko and Woolard came in behind Grain Valley at 4:06.95.
Cruce, Yurko, Talbot and Woolard set Platte County’s season-best in prelims at 1:53.05, but that leaves the Pirates at 33rd and just outside of a state spot at this point.
Without the max points from any of the relays, Platte County tried to make up the gap with Benford (third, 2:23.62) combining with Woolard to help the Pirates grab four of the top six spots in that event. The Pirates were unable to win a fourth straight White Division title after taking the Blue Division crown each year from 2019-22.
Now, Platte County’s focus shifts to “last chance” qualification meets and maximizing representation in the postseason.
Cruce is Platte County’s only swimmer with previous state experience in an individual event, having qualified in both the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke each of the past two seasons. She placed 15th in the 100 butterfly as a junior to earn honorable mention all-state honors.
Benford, Johnson, Anderson and Yurko have all swam at state on relays.
The top 32 in each event qualify for state, but swimmers can only compete in four total events with a maximum of two individual races. That means those not currently in a state position can still advance once decisions are made on participation.
Cruce (28th, 100 butterfly) and Johnson (31st, 100 backstroke) currently own Platte County’s only guaranteed spot. Johnson is also 33rd in the 200 IM and 37th in the 500 freestyle, while Cruce (37th) and Benford (40th) are both right on the edge for the 100 breaststroke.
