The Park Hill South girls swim and dive team has done what no other program has accomplished in more than two decades: claim three straight state championships.
The Panthers surged to their historic third consecutive title, becoming the first team in 22 years to achieve the feat. With contributors spanning freshmen to seniors, Park Hill South reinforced its place as the state’s premier program.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Park Hill South head coach Tim Busenhart said. “I don’t know if it’s considered a dynasty or not, but it is a great accomplishment to be able to do back-to-back-to-back state championships.”
The road to a third straight crown came with uncertainty. Reigning Class 1 champion St. Joseph’s Academy moved up to Class 2 this season, creating questions about how the teams would stack up against each other.
The Panthers were officially crowned Class 2 state champions Feb. 21 at the City of St. Peters Rec-Plex, pulling away with 331 points to St. Joseph’s Academy’s 270.
South anticipated a tight finish for much of the season, but a January win over St. Joseph’s Academy at the COMO Invitational shifted momentum. Several swimmers began dropping unexpected time, and confidence grew as the postseason approached.
“Up until about conference, we thought it was going to be a nail-biter,” Busenhart said. “A couple of girls started dropping some time out of nowhere. As long as we held consistently with our seed times, we knew we would be in pretty good shape to succeed.”
The two-day state meet began Feb. 20, and South built momentum in preliminaries before taking control on the final day as diving quickly set the tone with three contributing towards the team’s final tally.
Senior Aniya Clemons claimed her first state championship, delivering 20 of the Panthers’ 33 diving points. After finishing runner-up in prelims, Clemons surged ahead in the semifinals and sealed the title with a finals score of 395.85.
“We’ve come a long way collectively from the beginning of the season,” Clemons said. “Seeing Hailey Kuennen come back from an injury and get eighth place makes me very proud of her. I’m just proud of us all.”
Hailey Kuennen, sidelined last season with a foot injury, earned all-state honors with a score of 343.05 and an eighth-place finish. Avery Kuennen added two points with a 15th-place showing.
“It made it a much more fun attitude,” Busenhart said about the team’s mindset after the diving portion. “A little bit relaxed. The girls kept the intensity and just kept going and going to swim really well on the second day.”
St. Joseph’s Academy opened the swimming finals with a win in the 200-yard medley relay (1 minute, 46.43 seconds), although South offset most of that damage by finishing as runner-up with Elizabeth Landuyt, Joslyn Perry, Jia Hurst and Ashlyn Hines finishing in 1:47.68 to limit the damage. From there, the Panthers steadily extended their lead.
Park Hill South senior Elisa DeCaro receives her state medal during the awards ceremony on Feb. 21. Photo Credit: MSHSAA
Sophomore Avery Hogue delivered a standout performance, winning the 200 individual medley in a season-best 2:05.57. She also swam on the Panthers’ third straight state championship 200 freestyle relay team alongside seniors Elisa DeCaro and Brooke Nichols and anchor Hines, finishing in 1:39.12.
Hogue added a third-place finish in the 500 freestyle and helped the 400 freestyle relay team to runner-up honors in 3:34.94 with DeCaro, Claire Dierker and Landuyt.
“I don’t think we were as stressed as we would have been since we had a good lead,” Clemons said. “Seeing us progressively get more points really made the energy go up. I feel like we definitely knew we would win.”
Hogue scored 36 individual points, while South’s depth proved decisive. Landuyt and Hines each contributed 31 points in their individual events. DeCaro added 29 points and Nichols 16.
Freshmen Claire Dierker (18 points) and Perry (11) made immediate impacts in their state debuts. Wheeler added 17 points as another underclassman, and Hurst contributed three.
In total, Park Hill South produced 21 finalists, with 15 earning all-state honors and six more receiving honorable mention recognition. It all came down to each girl’s desire to put in the work from the beginning of the season, and to keep growing a proud tradition of success for their program.
“I knew we all were hoping it would happen, but it’s just amazing that we were able to pull through and make it happen,” Clemons said.
Busenhart credited his veteran core and emphasized how diving — a focus throughout the season — provided an early cushion. He also praised the relays, all of which finished in the top three with different combinations contributing.
The team’s achievements at state over the past three years is something that was unexpected when the senior class entered as freshmen. Now that they have pulled off the improbable, it still will take some time for them to wrap their heads around what they’ve just accomplished.
“I didn’t even think we would win it twice,” Clemons said. “I thought that winning state is just something that happened once in your life.”
The Panthers returned to school Feb. 23 and paraded through the halls with their latest trophy, escorted by a drumline. They are also making plans to be honored at a basketball game next week.
“They are really excited to say three-peat because it hasn’t been done in a long time,” Busenhart said. “Just what it means to the school and the program, showing that we’re tops in the area and tops in the state.”