Rebekah Geddes recorded the 23rd fastest time Saturday, Sept. 26 at the Rim Rock Classic in Lawrence, Kan. In one of the Midwest’s largest meets, the Platte County sophomore placed second in the Crimson Division — the middle of three tiered races — in 19 minutes, 25.60 seconds. She finished about 23½ seconds behind winner Destini Eskridge of Maize (Kan.), also a sophomore.
There were 230 runners in the Crimson Division and nearly 750 at the varsity level overall.
Five of Platte County’s seven entrants recorded a personal-best time on the 5-kilometer course at Rim Rock Farm. Erin Straubel came in 47th place with a new PR of 21:18.50, while Lauren Johnson also cracked the top 100 in 22:18, giving the Pirates three sophomores at the top. Jessica Clark, another sophomore, placed 116th and bettered her previous personal best by more than a minute, running a 22:36.60.
Platte County ended up 11th out of 33 teams with a team total of 362, just 17 away from ninth place Wichita Northwest (Kan.).
Jackson Letcher’s top-40 effort in the boys Crimson Division race helped Platte County to a 24th-place showing out of 42 teams. The Pirates standout sophomore came in 39th in a field of almost 300, setting an early personal best of 17:23.40.
Platte County’s Keegan Cordova and Evan Edwards also set PRs and were in the top 150.
Park Hill South’s girls were fourth out of 38 teams in the Gold Division, the most competitive of the three runs. The top Missouri team, the Panthers totaled 221 and were 126 behind champion St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.) but just 30 back of Manhattan (Kan.).
Despite the 254-runner field, Park Hill South’s top four finished between 15th and 43rd and were separated by about 45 seconds. Lexi Maddox, a junior came in 15th (19:18.90) with sophomore Emma Roth 10 spots back in 19:39.20.
Marti Heit (41st, 20:02.80) and Keely Danielsen (43rd, 20:03.70) — two more sophomores, rounded out Park Hill South’s top five.
Park Hill South’s boys were 21st out of 41 in the Gold Division standings with sophomore Eli Guzman (55th, 16:55.90) and Ewan Frick (64th, 16:58.60) leading the way.
Smithville Invitational
West Platte’s boys were seventh in the final team standings but ended up just six back of fifth despite continued leg issues for senior Daniel Cicha, who finished 19th in 19:36. Andrew Cicha and Max Davies followed closely behind in 24th and 25th, respectively.
North Platte came in eighth in the 10-team field.
Dylan Stockman, a senior, placed eighth in 18:55.10 for the Panthers with senior Eric Brown breaking up West Platte’s top three. Brown came in 23rd and beat Andrew Cicha to the line by a little more than a second.
On the girls side, North Platte wound up fourth out of only four qualifying teams. The Panthers’ seven runners were bunched between 21st and 38th out of 41 entrants. Rayanne Daniel, a senior, led the effort in 21st at 24:40.40.