NKCSD INVITATIONAL
The district’s swim and dive teams hosted the 2024 North Kansas City School District Invitational Sept. 20-21, with 30 teams from all over the state competing in a two day event. This year’s NKCSD Invite was the biggest it’s ever been with more teams competing and tighter competition for swimmers.
The team’s podium placements included two bronze medals from senior Gabriel Wells in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 yard breaststroke, where Wells broke the school record in both events, including an 11-year-old record in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.01.
The meet started off with the 200-yard medley relay where the team finished fourth with a time of 1:40.10 to gain a hot start. Even though they weren’t able to pull off any first-place wins, two of their swimmers made state consideration times with Logan Lawrence placing 5th in the 50-yard freestyle and 11th in the 100-yard fly along with Justin Hendricks placing 24th in the 100 yard fly and 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke.
At the end of the meet, the team placed 8th out of 30 teams, earning 125 points in the final scoring.
COMO INVITE
The COMO Invite on Sept. 27 in Columbia at the University of Missouri Aquatics Center went even better for the team, as they broke five COMO records, including the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay, both earning second place in the finals (Garrison Wells, Logan Lawrence, Evan Taber, Gabriel Wells).
Three other COMO individual records were broken as Gabriel Wells shattered the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.31, earning him 4th place and even breaking his own school record. Garrison Wells broke the COMO record and his own school record in the 100-yard freestyle, where he placed 5th. The records didn’t stop there as Sam Hennenfent placed 5th in the 500-yard freestyle, while also placing 4th in the Individual medley, earning another top five placement on the day, as well as two meet and even school records.
“Breaking records means a lot to me, it’s always exciting to break a new record,” Senior Gabriel Wells said. “The night before a meet I like to visualize my races for the next day.”
Gabriel Wells, along with his brother Garrison Wells have both been changing the record board, taking down multiple longstanding school records.
“Breaking school records means a lot,” junior Garrison Wells said, “It’s crazy to look back and see I’m the fastest swimmer to walk the halls of Staley, and it’s incredibly rewarding as I’m congratulated by my peers and teachers.”
The team continues to stay hot after two high-stakes tournaments. The next tournament will be the Class 2 District 1 Tournament Nov. 8. In the meantime, swimmers look to continue the impressive streak, as well as continuing podium placements and even State Championship qualification times.
