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 11th
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.”
