Dominance has become routine for Park Hill South, and last week delivered another emphatic episode.
The Panthers delivered another commanding performance Feb. 5-7 at the Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference Red Division meet at Gladstone Community Center, capturing the program’s 25th conference championship in emphatic fashion. Park Hill South swept all 12 events and finished with 41 total medalists, turning the meet into a showcase of the program’s depth, consistency and championship pedigree.
The momentum started early and never let up.
One of the most notable moments came on Feb. 5 from the diving board. Park Hill South’s Aniya Clemons produced a pool-record performance, scoring 455.40 to win the diving title and give the Panthers an early boost in the standings. Clemons was joined by the trio of Hailey Kuennen, Avery Kuennen and Trisha Hayes as South took four of the top five diving spots.
Sophomore Avery Hogue won conference championships in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events for Park Hill South.
The finals on Feb. 7 opened with the 200-yard medley relay, as South began with a victory in 1:48.70, more than 6 seconds ahead of the field, establishing control that carried throughout the meet. The Panthers continued to stack wins in individual events, as sophomore Avery Hogue (1 minute, 52.56 seconds) won the 200 freestyle conference title, followed by senior Brooke Nichols (1:59.64) and freshman Claire Dierker (2:01.55) to sweep the top three spots.
From there, Park Hill South continued to dominate in the water with senior Lizzie Landuyt cruising to her first individual title of the day with a 200 IM conference title in 2:13.14. Elisa DeCaro captured the 50-yard freestyle conference title in 25.10 seconds, edging out her sophomore teammate Ashlyn Hines by 0.05 seconds.
South’s 100 butterfly duo of Lily Wheeler (1:01.57) and Jia Hurst (1:01.73) packed the one-two punch to give Wheeler the conference title. In her conference meet debut, Dierker won her first conference title in the 100 freestyle in a time of 54.50 seconds, followed by DeCaro (54.52) and Hines (54.75) to complete the top-three sweep of the event.
Again, South earned a significant 37-point swing as Hogue (5:04.39) finished first in the 500 freestyle to win her second conference title of the day, followed by Nichols (5:24.03) as runner-up. The Panthers won their second relay title of the day in the 4x200 freestyle, leading from start to finish ahead of Liberty. Landuyt clinched her second conference title of the day in the 100 backstroke (58.26) before junior Mallory Crane (1:03.12) settled for third after narrowly finishing behind Liberty’s Hannah Daugherty (1:02.84).
The Panthers capped off the individual events with the 100 breaststroke, with freshman Joslyn Perry breaking through for her first conference title in 1:09.87. South finished the 12-event sweep by cruising through the 4x400 freestyle relay, finishing 3:41.66, nearly 10 seconds quicker than second-place Liberty.
Park Hill South freshman Joslyn Perry turns off the wall before clinching the conference title in the 100-yard breaststroke.
That collective effort allowed the Panthers to separate from the field and claim the Red Division crown with room to spare on 666 points. Liberty (490 points) and Park Hill (284) followed, with Oak Park, Winnetonka and North Kansas City rounding out the bottom of the team standings.
The Trojans placed multiple swimmers into championship finals and added valuable points through the consolation finals. Park Hill opened the finals session with a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay (2:03.12).
Molly Mills won the 200 freestyle consolation finals for Park Hill in 2:12.01. In sprint events, Brynn Wilkens turned in one of Park Hill’s strongest performances, placing sixth in the 50 freestyle (27.09) and later added a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle (1:05.53). Genevieve Poitras added a seventh-place finish in the 50 freestyle (27.85) and later scored again in the 100 breaststroke, placing sixth in 1:16.95.
Distance events also proved productive as Ava Knepper led Park Hill in the 500 freestyle, finishing sixth in 5:48.33, while Mills returned with a ninth-place finish in the event (5:53.57) after her earlier success.
Park Hill freshman Paige Hardy won the consolation finals of the 100-yard breaststroke.
Kaitlyn Werner added her second scoring swim in the 100 backstroke, placing sixth in 59.75, and Claire Conrad contributed an eighth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.33). Paige Hardy added a pair of consolation final wins in the 200 medley (2:44.02) and 100 breaststroke (1:21.27).
Relays also produced some points for Park Hill, placing third in the 200 freestyle (1:51.22) and capped the day with another third-place finish in the 400 freestyle (4:08.35).
The conference meet ultimately belonged to Park Hill South.
Between Clemons’ record-setting diving performance, Landuyt and Hogue’s individual titles, and a sweep of all 12 events, the Panthers turned the conference finals into another training exercise as they continue to showcase themselves as the most formidable contender heading into the Class 2 District 1 meet in St. Louis on Feb. 14.