Park Hill, Park Hill South top PH Invite results

Park Hill and Park Hill South both finished in the top four of the Park Hill Swim Invitational last weekend. Park Hill South finished in second place with 265 points behind Notre Dame de Sion while Park Hill took fourth place with 181 points, just four points behind third place finisher St. Theresa’s. It sets the stage for what could be a close conference swim meet between the two rivals at the beginning of February.

Park Hill South coach Tim Busenhart says his team has performed better than expected so far in the first part of the season with the help of two talented freshman. Anna Riekhof, who took first in the 100 yard breast stroke at the invitational, currently has the best time in the state. Tori Buehler, who did not participate in last weekend’s competition, is recording times that put her as one of the top three statewide in the backstroke and individual medley.

“The girls swam pretty well this weekend. Most of them moved up or stayed where they were before. It’s going a lot better than I thought it might. We graduated 11 seniors last year, but the freshmen have really stepped up,” Busenhart said. “Right now we have the top medley relay and breast stroke in the state. There are three other girls who are in the top five in their individual events as well.”

Also racking up points for Park Hill South last weekend was a first place finish in the 200 yard medley relay from Samantha Scott, Helen Yeater, Riekhof, and Olivia McLean. Yeater clocked in second in the 100 yard butterfly. The Panthers will next look to the Raytown Invitational next weekend, which they have won 10 years in a row, and hope to bring home an 11^th this year.

Across the pool, Park Hill is encouraged by their fourth place finish and starting to get their feet back underneath them after winter break. Coach Karl Haley says they did not have any divers competing this weekend, but it could have made a difference since the Trojans fell short of third place by only four points. Top finishers for Park Hill included Lauren Shaw who took first in the 100 yard freestyle and second in the 100 yard backstroke along with the second place finish from the 200 yard free relay team of Madison Heydinger, Olivia Woods, Rebecca Shaw, and Lauren.

Things are looking up though as they head down the season stretch.

“We’ve got all of our relays already qualified for state, which is a nice accomplishment this early in the season,” Haley said.

Senior Lauren Shaw has helped anchor some of those relays. Shaw transferred this year from Warrensburg where she was a state finalist in several events last season. Having already qualified for state in the 100 and 300 backstroke, Shaw’s ability has landed her an opportunity to continue swimming after high school.

“She’s an important part of our relays and has qualified individually in the 100 and 300 backstroke so far,” Haley said. “She’s an upper echelon swimmer that has signed with Bringham Young University (BYU) as a division one swimmer next year.

Heydinger has also qualified for state again, as part of several relays with her teammates and in the 500 freestyle. Haley says there have been big contributions from Hill, Rebecca Shaw, and Woods.

With only a few meets left in the season, Park Hill will compete in the KC Classic next weekend, which will serve as a pre-cursor to the conference meet. Haley says compared to the Park Hill Invitational, the conference meet will feature fewer teams and could provide for a close finish.

“There were 20 some odd teams vying for points, but at conference there are only six teams, so the points won’t be so spread out,” Haley said. “If we can get some divers to meet the format at the varsity level, it could be make things a lot closer than they have been in a while.”