Platte County didn’t lose from a roster that produced a sixth straight Suburban Conference title and a strong contingent of qualifiers for the Class 1 MSHSAA Swimming and Diving Championships. However, replacing one of the two most decorated swimmers in program history provides an obvious challenge, and the Pirates have a unique collection of contributors looking to fill the void.
A year ago, Platte County sent eight total qualifiers to state with seven able to compete across five individual and three relay entrants. Brooklynn Hays finished out her career in the consolation finals of two events and accounted for all seven team points at state after claiming both non-relay wins for the Pirates in a competitive and memorable conference meet. She graduated along with Jayden Benninghoff, a state qualifier on relays the past two seasons, plus contributors Alyson Stone and Addison Sloan.
Platte County returns five swimmers with prior state experience but none with the pedigree of Hays. Instead, the Pirates will rely on a seasoned senior, a pair of rapidly developed newcomers and two burgeoning sophomores.
“We have some really good swimmers who should be able to swim fast and do well,” second-year Platte County coach Britt Johnson said. “We also have a lot of new swimmers who we look to make big improvements over the season.”
A fourth-year senior, Ireland Shank qualified for Class 1 state in the 100-yard butterfly for a third straight season last winter and finished 31st in preliminaries, while Cruce made her individual debut in the 100 butterfly (22nd) and the 100 breaststroke (31st). The Pirates sent all three relays, as well, but none advanced out of preliminaries.
The top 32 in each event made the state field with swimmers limited to two individual events and two relays or three relays if qualified in one or fewer event, meaning those without a top-32 time ended up making the field. The top eight times in preliminaries advance to the all-state championship final while the next eight go to the honorable mention consolation final.
Platte County senior Chloe Pegler and Cruce were on the 18th-place 200 medley team that missed the consolation final by about a second and a half. Shank Pegler and Cruce swam on two relays each, while sophomores Ronnie Benford and Mackenzie Johnson were on the 400 freestyle team for the Pirates. Shank has swam on six state relays over her first three seasons, which includes a 13th-place honorable mention all-state 200 medley relay in 2023.
Cruce made a big leap as a second-year sophomore, Pegler joined the team as a junior and made an immediate impact in sprint freestyle and Benford and Johnson were important contributors as freshmen with a chance to take on larger roles this season.
In addition to the returning qualifiers, Platte County needs versatile junior Erin Anderson and sophomore Thais Thompson to provide depth to help win another conference title. The Pirates have won the past two in the White Division, edging Grain Valley by 16 points last season in a runaway two-team race, after winning the previous four in the Blue Division.
In addition to Hays’ individual wins at conference, Platte County’s medley relay team edged Grain Valley by just more than 0.1 of a second with Pegler (freestyle) and Cruce (butterfly) in the lineup. The depth of A finalists ended up the differentiator last year at conference in addition to contributions in 1-meter diving from Sloan and Thompson.
“They should be able to swim fast and have their best times near the end of the season,” Britt Johnson said. “They would like to win conference again, but that will be difficult. We would like to send several swimmers to state and all of our relays.”
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Ronnie has spent the last year working on stroke development and interval training with club swim (KC Blazers) and Coach Kelly making sure she is ready to take the 500 and drop time.