Lee’s Summit North’s Daniel Worth breaks Missouri state record in 100-yard breaststroke at state meet

The 100-yard high school breaststroke record in the state of Missouri has stood the test of time for the better part of three decades.

Until Daniel Worth came along.

Worth, a Lee’s Summit North junior, flirted with breaking the mark at last year’s Missouri Class 2 state meet. This year, Worth did more than flirt with that record.

Worth’s time of 53.53 seconds at Saturday’s Class 2 state meet at the St. Peters Rec-Plex was more than a second faster than the 54.78 posted by Jeff Commings of St. Louis University High that has held up as the state’s longest-standing record at 28 years.

“It’s been a motivator for me the past two years,” Worth said. “Last year, I was pretty close, and I was happy with it. This year, I was really gunning for it.”

Knowing his record was likely to fall, Commings was on-hand to watch Worth set the new mark and greeted him with a big hug as Worth headed to the podium.

“When he almost broke it last year, I kind of got a little jolt and said ‘finally,’” said Commings, now 45 and a swim school owner in Tucson, Ariz. “I couldn’t be happier to see where he can take this record. He’s gonna be waiting for another 30 years for it to be broken.”

Worth also broke his own state record earlier in the meet in winning the 200 individual medley.

“I did a lot of lifting this season, a lot more than I normally do,” he said. “There was never a point in that race where I was uncomfortable. It was nice to be able to execute.”

The two individual gold medals were part of a second straight four-gold state meet for Worth, who was also part of the Broncos’ winning 200-medley and 200-freestyle relay teams.

“It’s super cool that I could two-peat it,” he said. “The team really came together on the relays.”

Rockhurst had the highest finish for Kansas City-area teams with a second-place showing to St. Louis University’s first place. It was the Hawklets’ best state finish since their 10-year run of state championships came to a close in 2014.

“I’m very proud of my boys and what they accomplished this year with what they went through,” Rockhurst coach Paul Winkeler said. “The flu just ran rampant through our team, so I’m very proud of the guts they showed.”

The Hawklets made it a clean sweep for KC in the relays when they won the 400 free relay in the day’s final event to surge into second.

“We knew how the points had to play out, so I guess one way to take care of it is to win the thing,” Winkeler said. “That just shows the kind of boys we have on the team.”

Senior Dylan Nill also helped the Rockhurst cause with his second consecutive 500-free championship.

“I’m very happy with how I did today,” Nill said. “I went in yesterday feeling great. I got sick over the night, but then I just had grit and swam my heart out.”

Lee’s Summit North also brought home a team trophy with its second straight fourth-place finish.

“This is a really, really good state, so we’re definitely happy with that result,” Broncos coach Thomas Faulkenberry said. “But as a program, the goal is to get the big trophy, and that’s something we’re gonna continue to work on.”

The Broncos dominated the top of the medal stand with a total of six first-place finishes, including four individually and its two relays.

Senior Andrew Bennett had one of LS North titles in the 50 freestyle.

“It really feels great,” he said. “The time, 21.01 (seconds), is so close. I’ve never gone a 20-point. That was my main goal, and I came that close. I’m so proud of winning, but disappointed about the time.”

Broncos junior Lance Godard had the other gold in the 100 butterfly, which was a grind as it came right on the heels of his second-place finish in the 50 free.

“I knew that going in. I trained for it and it worked out fine,” Godard said.