ST. PETERS • Rockhurst may have won its remarkable eighth straight title Saturday at the Missouri boys swimming and diving championships, but plenty of area performers provided rave performances of their own.
Timberland's Andrew Sansoucie won two individual events, including a record-breaking performance, and Lafayette and Parkway Central placed second and third in the team races, respectively.
But the day belonged to Rockhurst, which finished with 269.5 points to outdistance Lafayette (233.5) and Parkway Central (201.5).
"We did great," Lafayette junior Jon Glaser said. "The Rockhurst divers really got us. We swam as hard as we could. We'll be back up there next year."
It was a banner afternoon for Sansoucie, a junior who broke the state record in the 100 butterfly in a time of 48.14 seconds. The mark, previously held by Chris McCrary of Fort Zumwalt South, had stood since 2000.
"I'm so happy," Sanoucie said. "I've wanted this all season, and I beat it by a good chunk."
Sansoucie said the race was smooth and almost effortless. "It was fantastic," he said. "Every stroke, every underwater just felt right."
Sansoucie also impressively won the 50 freestyle. His time of 20.69 was a personal best and put him ahead of Glendale's Jack Snow at 21.03.
"This is what I have been looking forward to since I was a freshman," Sanoucie said. "You have to have a plan, and mine was to take no breaths on the first lap and one on the last."
Sansoucie placed fourth in the event in 2010.
"I'm a lot less nervous than last year," he said. "This was fantastic."
Parkway Central got off to a great start by winning the first event, the 200 medley relay. Brandon Weissman, Drew Larkins, Nick Orf, and Zachary Biggs posted a winning time of 1:36.09. Lafayette finished third in 1:38.09, and Burroughs was fifth in 1:39.43.
"It was a pretty awesome start," Weissman said. "Yesterday in the prelims we shattered our school record and were off the state record by a half-second."
Orf, a junior, won a tight 200 IM in 1:51.06, just ahead of Marshall's Tyler Nichols (1:51:08).
"I went out at fast as I could in the fly and held my own," Orf said. "It came down to the freestyle, and it was really close."
Marquette's Kevin Poskin was third in 1:54.93.
"I'm more than pleased," Poskin said. "I knew Nick and Tyler would be at the top. I went in wanting third, and anything above that would have just been an added bonus."
In diving, SLUH's Michael Berry won with 407.5 points, followed by Kirkwood's Jeff Summa.
"My nerves got the best of me at the start," Berry said. "After the first few dives my momentum carried me through the last rounds."
Berry placed seventh in the event last season.
"This is what I have been shooting for all season," Berry said. "I sort of hit a slump during the mid-season, but I'm really pumped. This has been a good day."
Rockhurst placed divers in fourth through seventh, which gave the Hawklets a combined 55 points.
Lafayette ended the day with a win in the 400 freestyle. Glaser, Patrick Vega, Lucas Bruder, and Jeffrey Morgan won in 3:11.17. Parkway Central was fourth in 3:14.22.
"The 400 is our bread and butter, and we wanted to go out with a bang," Glaser said.
In the 200 freestyle, Vega finished second in 1:41.64, and Glaser was third (1:42.1). Luke Snow of Glendale in 1:40.7.
Francis Howell's Ryan Baker won the 500 freestyle in 4:34.23. Glaser placed third in 4:36.95, Vega sixth in 4:38.62.
"I didn't know how I was going to do," Baker said. "I know that in any race anything can happen, but I didn't think I had a chance to win."
Baker said his approach was to go out in the first 200 and set his rhythm and get a feel for his stroke. He then reassesses the situation for the final stretch.
"You're not supposed to do that," he said. "But I make my move when I feel like I can."
The Junior Billikens won the 200 freestyle relay. Seniors Peter Derdeyn, Sam Erlinger and Amir Paschal along with junior Chris Favier won in 1:27.29. Parkway West placed fourth in 1:28.99, Burroughs fifth in 1:29.14, and Lafayette sixth in 1:29.25.
"We knew that we had to leave it all in the pool," Paschal said. "We were pretty nervous coming in. But we stayed positive and we stayed humble."
