ST. PETERS • Rockhurst may have won its remarkable eighth straight title on Saturday at the 75th MSHSAA boys swimming and diving championships but plenty of local performers provided rave performances of their own at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
Timberland's Andrew Sanoucie won two individual events, including a record-breaking performance while Lafayette and Parkway Central placed second and third respectively.
But the day belonged to the Hawklets, who finished with 269.5 points, followed by the Lancers (233.5) and the Colts (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 Timberland's Andrew Sanoucie. The junior set a state record in the 100 butterfly as he posted a winning time of 48.14. He said the race was almost effortless.
"It was fantastic," Sanoucie said. "Every stroke, every underwater just felt right."
Sanoucie 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."
Parkway Central got things going by winning the first event, the 200 medley relay. Brandon Weissman, Drew Larkins, Nick Orf and Zachary Biggs teamed up to post a winning time of 1:36.09.
"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. He posted a time of 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."
Francis Howell's Ryan Baker won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:34.23. Glaser placed third with a time of 4:36.95 and Vega was 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."
SLUH won the 200 freestyle relay. Seniors Peter Derdeyn, Sam Erlinger, and Amir Paschal along with junior Chris Favier won with a time of 1:27.29.
"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."
Paschal said it was extra special winning the race with two other seniors.
"At SLUH we talk about brotherhood," he said. "And these guys I consider my brothers. I couldn't pick better guys to swim with."
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."
Rockhurst placed divers in fourth through seventh, which gave them a combined 55-point boost.
Lafayette ended the day with a win in the 400 freestyle. Glaser, Patrick Vega, Lucas Bruder, and Jeffrey Morgan posted a winning time of 3:11.17. Parkway Central was fourth, in 3:14.22.
