Savannah ended up with the big celebration, but Platte County turned in a solid day and enjoyed the chance to return home to Platte County Community Center North for the first time in multiple weeks. The host Pirates finished second overall in the final standings out of 13 teams in the Platte County Invitational, a chance for some swimmers to compete in non-priority events.
Platte County junior Palmer Keith swims in the 200-yard individual medley during the Platte County Invitational on Saturday at Platte County Community Center North.
Platte County collected wins in each of the final two individual events, and the 400-yard freestyle team of juniors Deacon Gutshall, Cobie Parkin and Palmer Keith plus sophomore Jack Hokanson closed with a convincing victory in the the last race. The Pirates finished with 257 points, while Savannah took the team title with 282.
“Platte County Invitational is a meet I look forward to all year,” Gutshall said. “It’s super duper fun to be able to do. It’s great to swim at home, get friends and family all over and just being able to race some competition and really showing them what you work so hard for.”
Guthsall and Keith accounted for all four of Platte County’s individual victories, while teaming with Parkin and Hokanson to open and finish the meet with relay victories. However, the Pirates returned to the pool after a week off since competing the in the two-day COMO Invitational, which brought together an elite field from across the state.
While Keith placed first in two of his potential Class 1 MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships events, Gutshall went away from his distance-freestyle specialization and likely competed in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke for the final time this season. He set state consideration times in winning both, first in the 100 butterfly (55.17 seconds, 20th-best time in Class 1) and then in the 100 backstroke (season-best 55.25, 12th-best time in Class 1).
Platte County sophomore Jack Hokanson swims in the 200-yard individual medley during the Platte County Invitational on Saturday at Platte County Community Center North.
Platte County currently sits in the heaviest training portion of the season, often leading to slower times, but Gutshall showed off his abilities in events he mostly gave up. He qualified for state in the 500 freestyle as a freshman and changed the trajectory of his career.
Gutshall currently holds state consideration times in all but one individual event, but swimmers are limited to a maximum of two individual events. The top 32 make the state field, but the restrictions allow many swimmers below the cut line to earn berths into the postseason.
“We knew that today probably wasn’t going to be a day where (I) would have a drop in the 500, 200 coming right off of COMO,” said Gutshall, who still wants to break the school record in the backstroke at some point. “And with the meets we have left, we thought today would be a good time to do those events just to get a feel for it and see where we’re at, and it’ll probably be the last time I swim those events this year so being able to go up and put up some decent times was really exciting.”
Keith holds consideration times in all but two events but ranks highest in Class 1 for the 200 IM (third) and 100 breaststroke (eighth). He won those events on Saturday but was slightly off of his season-bests in both — 2:02.05 in the IM and 1:03.11 in the breaststroke.
Swimming back-to-back in the 100 breaststroke and then anchoring the 400 freestyle relay, Keith hinted at potentially reserving energy but won his second individual swim in convincing fashion. Gutshall then put Platte County in front of Raytown after the opening leg of the meet’s final event. The Blue Jays took the lead back on the second leg, but Hokanson kept Platte County close. Parkin gave the Pirates the lead back, and Keith brought them to the finish in 3:30.84 to win by nearly 10 seconds.
Platte County was just off the season-best of 3:28.83 in the event.
Platte County junior Dylan Smith swims in the 100-yard breaststroke during the Platte County Invitational on Saturday at Platte County Community Center North.
The same quartet of Gutshall, Keith, Parkin and Hokanson also teamed in the 200 medley relay for one of the few times this season. The Pirates posted a season-best of 1:46.39 to win, and they now own the No. 18 state consideration time in Class 1.
The top four continue to lead a Platte County roster without a senior, but development also continues for Parkin, who recently went under 25 seconds in the 50 freestyle for the first time, and Hokanson, who finished third in the 200 IM at 2:12.45 and has multiple state consideration cuts in a breakout season. The Pirates have also seen marked improvement from juniors Sonney Marquis and Dylan Smith and sophomores Landon Steffel and Finn Smith, among others.
“It’s really a great feeling,” Gutshall said. “We’ve got so many guys working hard in practice, a lot of guys giving it all their effort, so it’s really, really nice to see they’re getting the results they want.
“It’s really good to see those guys get happy and excited about the (time) drops that they have because they really deserve it.”
Platte County travels to the Smith-Cotton Invitational this weekend and continues to prepare for the Suburban Conference White Division Championships later this month. The Pirates will enter as defending champion but have limited numbers that will make repeating difficult against Raytown, Belton and Grain Valley.
