Park Hill South misses out on trophy at Missouri state swimming and diving

Park Hill South senior Allison Garrett stood proudly on the podium after finishing sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke Saturday in the Missouri girls swimming and diving state meet at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

She was smiling, but also had mixed emotions since that race was her final one of her high school career.

“I’m about to cry,” Garrett said. “I am so thankful to have been on a team like this for four years. This is like family. My teammates are like sisters. We see each other every day and it has been so much fun. Now it’s time to begin a new chapter.”

That chapter for Garrett will be at Truman State University, where she will swim along with Maggie Hickey, a former teammate from last year.

The loss of Hickey, Anna Riekhof and especially two-event defending champion Tori Beeler proved to be too much for Garrett and her teammates to being home their fourth straight team trophy from the state meet.

The Panthers finished fifth, with four teams receiving trophies. Park Hill South was in the top four for much of the meet before Columbia Hickman picked up 48 points in the 500-yard free.

“I still think it is incredible what we did this year, considering everybody we lost last year,” Garrett said.

Park Hill South started the meet well when Garrett, Georgia Clark. Paige Riekhof and Kirsten Aiken finished second in the 200 medley relay.

That would prove to be the best finish for any Kansas City-area individual or relay team.

Clark, Nadya McCullough, Garrett and Riekhof finished fifth in the 200-free relay.

The Panthers had four sixth-place finishes in individual races: Garrett in the 100 breaststroke; Riekhof in the 200 free and 100 fly; and Clark in the 200 individual medley. Clark was also eighth in the 100 backstroke.

“We knew it was going to be tough for us today and we had some bumps in the road,” Panthers coach Tim Busenhart said. “I can’t be upset. The girls tried their best and I am very proud of them. It was a great year.”

No area individual finished higher than sixth, although several came home with state medals.

Park Hill’s Nani Welsh earned two medals, finishing seventh in the 100 freestyle and eighth in the 200 freestyle.

Other area medalists were: Pembroke Hill’s Caroline Salzman (eighth in the 50 free); Staley’s Rachel Janiak (seventh in the 500 free); and Lee’s Summit West’s Molly Harmon (eighth in the 100 breaststroke).

Blue Spring South’s Raegan Hecker, Gabby Fournier, Taylor Branson and Katie Clark were eighth in the 200 freestyle relay.

Area divers performed well at the state meet. There were four area divers in the top 10 and seven in the top 16. Bailey Carter of Blue Springs South had the best showing, finishing fourth.

Lafayette edged out defending champion Rock Bridge for the team title. The Lancers won the 400 freestyle relay that ended the meet and finished with 224 points. Rock Bridge had 220.5, Marquette was third with 201 points, Hickman was fourth with 152 points and Park Hill South had 138.

No other KC-area team finished in the top 10. Blue Springs South was 13th.

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 7:39 PM with the headline "Park Hill South misses out on trophy at Missouri state swimming and diving."