Winter Preview: Park Hill South Girls Swimming

After losing 11 seniors from last year’s conference title team that took 18^th at state, Park Hill South will look to build around a few key swimmers returning this year to lead the Panthers in a new conference featuring the likes of Lee’s Summit West and Park Hill. Coach Tim Busenhart says there is a lot of potential with this year’s team and if they stick with their motto, there’s no telling what can happen.

“This year we kind of have a motto of: train, compete, have fun,” Busenhart said.

An honorable mention all-state swimmer last season, sophomore Helen Yeater will join fellow state qualifiers Olivia McLain, Samantha Scott, and Abbie Noyes as the Panthers most experienced and decorated swimmers. Scott and Noyes are part of a small senior class of six which also includes Dani Lake, Samantha Chambers, Olivia Rea, and Rachel Riddell. While the core of the Panthers lineup will be freshmen and sophomores, Coach Tim Busenhart says his seniors have done a good job of building team unity in the early weeks of practice.

“They’re all really good at getting the girls to do things together and have a lot of fun with it,” Busenhart said. “The team has really gelled well together with so many of the girls knowing each other through neighborhood swimming.”

Two of the young swimmers who will contribute immediately for Park Hill South are freshmen Tori Beeler and Anna Riekhof, who Busenhart says are already close to swimming state qualifying times. Busenhart said the medley relay appears it will be an early strong point for the Panthers. As far as filling in the rest of the roster spots, they are working on finding out where each swimmer’s strengths can contribute best.

“We’re trying to figure out where our depth is right now and where everyone fits in,” Busenhart said. “With so many open spots, a lot of our younger swimmers are swimming hard because they know they can get one of them.”

Park Hill South has traditionally been a strong conference contender, sometimes running away with it by a couple hundred points, but with Park Hill and Lee’s Summit West in the mix this year, the battle is expected to be much closer. Combined with a lineup of high competition invitationals, Busenhart believes this will benefit the team.

“We like to swim against competition; we have a lot of tough invites. You become a better swimmer when you’re going for first, second, and third against another team compared to against your own teammates.”

The Panthers start the season off with a dual against Park Hill on December 4^th before competing in the Blue Springs Relays on December 7^th.