Park Hill and Park Hill South both turned in strong performances at the Greater Kansas City Red Division Championships, finishing second and third, respectively, in the team standings after three days of competition at the Gladstone Community Center.
Park Hill totaled 417 points for a second-place finish, edging out Park Hill South, 372 points. Liberty won the Red Division title with 510 points, and Kearney claimed the Blue Division championship with 520.
Both programs had multiple standout performances, but a dominant and deep Liberty squad drowned out some conference contenders. Park Hill’s relays helped drive its success, including a runner-up finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of Isaac Stewart, Ronan Waters, Richard Hoover and Samuel Oetting clocked in at 1 minute, 32.13 seconds — trailing only Liberty. Park Hill later added another strong showing in the 400 freestyle relay, taking second once again in 3:24.78.
Individually, Stewart led the way with a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle at 49.07 seconds and the freshman finished fourth in the 50 freestyle at 22.82. Waters followed behind in both sprints, finishing sixth in the 50 freestyle (23.40) and fifth in the 100 backstroke (58.68).
Park Hill senior Jack Vaden in the conference finals on Nov. 1 at the Gladstone Community Center.
Hoover scored valuable points with fifth-place finishes in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly, while Oetting placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. Rainier Realina also contributed in a pair of races with third-place finishes in the breaststroke (1:02.45) and 200 IM (2:09.99).
For Park Hill South, several Panthers posted standout times highlighted by multiple top-three finishes. The team opened the finals on Nov. 1 with a runner-up finish in the 200 medley relay at 1:41.10 and capped the weekend by placing third in the 400 freestyle relay (3:27.83).
Park Hill South sophomore Connor Landuyt continued to pace South’s distance group with a second-place effort in the 500 freestyle (5:01.11) and another runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:48.65). Alex Foot also joined him on the podium with third in the 200 free (1:51.06) and sixth in the 500 free (5:19.48).
Park Hill South junior swimmer Casey O’Hara in the conference finals on Nov. 1.
Sprinter Ari Elder placed third in the 50 freestyle (22.18) and second in the 100 butterfly (53.32) to round out Park Hill South’s top finishes, while teammates Tavin Nachlinger and Jake Zupan added additional scoring swims in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 breaststroke. Casey O’Hara added a fifth-place result in the 100 freestyle and another second-place finish in the 100 backstroke (54.45).
Both Park Hill and Park Hill South now turn their focus toward qualifying events for the MSHSAA state championships later this month. They visit St. Louis for the Class 2 District 1 Tournament meet hosted by Ladue Horton Watkins High School on Nov. 8, from which they hope to qualify for the Class 2 State Tournament on Nov. 14-15 in St. Peters.