Ari Elder swims the breaststroke in his 200-yard IM race, which he won with a time of 2:00.35 on Sept. 8.
Park Hill South’s boys swimming and diving team continued its strong start to the season on Sept. 8, defeating both Lee’s Summit and Kearney in a tri meet at the Park Hill Aquatic Center.
The Panthers topped Lee’s Summit 117-59 and Kearney 142-37 to improve to a perfect 3-0 in dual meets.
Park Hill South opened the meet in the 200-yard medley relay, with the team of senior Casey O’Hara, junior Ari Elder, senior Alex Foot and junior Connor Landuyt finishing first in 1 minute, 42.63 seconds to beat out Lee’s Summit by less than a second. The Panthers also won the 200-yard freestyle relay, where O’Hara, sophomore Tavin Nachlinger, Landuyt and Elder posted a time of 1:32.24 to narrowly edge out Lee’s Summit again.
Elder turned in one of the Panthers’ top individual performances, winning the 200-yard individual medley in 2:00.35, nearly 19 seconds before senior Jake Zupan’s runner-up finish, and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:02.88. Zupan followed Elder in the individual medley, placing second in 2:19.22, while sophomore Reed Spottswood was third in 2:19.78 to complete the Panther sweep.
Landuyt added a victory in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 5:11.38, an entire minute before sophomore Everett Katzenberger touched for his runner-up finish in 6:16.00 and freshman Karder Walburn’s third-place finish in 6:45.11. Landuyt also took second in the 50-yard freestyle at 22.68.
O’Hara won the 100 freestyle in 51.72, and Landuyt, Elder and Foot all contributed to Park Hill South’s winning relays. The Panthers closed the meet in style by winning the top two spots in the 400 freestyle relay as freshman Miles Cooper, Spottswood, Foot and Nachlinger took first overall in 3:39.15 before Zupan and Katzenberger helped freshman Davis Weseloh and sophomore Zelik Carpenter to a runner-up finish in 3:52.22.
Sophomore Tavin Nachlinger took first in the 100-yard butterfly race on Sept. 8.
The Panthers also dominated the diving competition. Junior Owen Petersen won the 1-meter event with a score of 228.05, while senior Joseph Russell was second at 203.55.
Park Hill South also dominated the 100 fly, where Nachlinger won in 58.11 seconds to beat out Foot’s time of 58.60 seconds. Again, South’s depth showed up throughout the meet, with the Panthers regularly placing multiple swimmers near the top of events.
That depth was also evident when the Panthers opened their dual-meet schedule on Sept. 1 against Park Hill, defeating the crosstown rival 110-76.
The Panthers started that meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay. O’Hara, Elder, Foot and Nachlinger finished in 1:41.43, more than seven seconds ahead of Park Hill’s second-place relay.
Landuyt won the 200 freestyle in 1:51.14 and the 100 freestyle in 49.82, while Elder won the 50 freestyle in 22.47 and the 100 butterfly in 54.13. Park Hill South also swept the top two spots in the 1-meter diving competition, with Petersen scoring 235.15 and Russell 201.85.
The Panthers closed the meet with another relay victory, as Foot, Miles Cooper, O’Hara and Landuyt combined for a 3:28.69 in the 400 freestyle relay.
With three dual victories already secured, Park Hill South has established an early-season foundation built on both individual standouts and depth throughout its lineup.
After competing in the North Kansas City Invitational on Sept. 18-19, Park Hill South will welcome Rockhurst and Grain Valley to the pool on Sept. 22.