Who'll stop the reign?
Parkway Central and Lafayette appear to be the two area boys swimming and diving teams that even have a shot to derail Rockhurst's impressive run of late.
In 2010, the Hawklets won the MSHSAA state swimming and diving championship for the seventh straight time, tying a state record set by Ladue in the 1950s. Led by standout sprinter Matthew Margritier, Rockhurst's senior-filled team finished well ahead of second-place Glendale.
Parkway Central earned the best area finish by placing third with 153.
"It would be great to move up," Colts coach Kevin Mabie said. "We have set a goal of winning a state trophy and think it would be cool if the two of us (Lafayette) could do it again."
Mabie has a lightning rod of a performer in junior Nick Orf, who set a school record with a fourth-place finish in the 100-butterfly (51.57). He is already lighting things up, posting times a second faster than that in the preseason.
State supremacy in the 100-fly could be an interesting race with Orf, Timberland's Andrew Sanoucie (who placed 2nd) and Parkway West's Luke Schlueter (who placed 5th) all capable of posting a winning time.
Parkway Central has another versatile weapon in Drew Larkins, who took fourth in the 100-breaststroke (59.72), dropping three seconds off of his time in doing so.
"This year, I really think Drew has a real shot at winning it," Mabie said.
Also part of that talented junior class is Brandon Weissman in the distance events. Zach Biggs, a starter on the basketball court for Central, is another experienced swimmer in the butterfly.
The Colts will once again be talented in the relays. With help from Riley Brown, Central took fifth in the 200-medley relay (1:39.01), seventh in the 200-free relay (1:29.67) and fifth in the 400-free relay (3:14.82) at last year's state meet.
"We've lost a couple of key guys, but we're better," Mabie said. "We're a year faster."
Lafayette finished fourth last season, a rebound from 37th the year before.
Todd Gabel has an extremely talented pair of youngsters in sophomore Patrick Vega and junior Jon Glaser.
Vega took third in state in the 200-free (1:42.20) last season, second in the 500-free (4:36.73) and was a part of Lafayette's seventh-place 200-medley relay (1:39.73) and fourth-place 400-free relay (3:13.49).
As a sophomore, Glaser took eighth in the 50-free (4:44.71). Senior Lucas Bruder finished seventh in the 100-breaststroke (1:00.90) as a junior and Coleman Swisher was fourth in diving (391.60 points) for the Lancers.
The Lancers opened the season by placing first in every event, except breaststroke and diving in a dual against Kirkwood. In all, 11 Lafayette swimmers made state cuts in the meet.Â
Divers Anthony Levy and Patrick Lee have picked up the slack with Michael Porter out due to a concussion.
