West Platte senior Charlie Kinslow was an all-state cross-country runner last season.
West Platte had an uncharacteristic fall, not making a deep run in any sport other than cross-country.
The West Platte boys took eighth place and the girls ended in 10th place. Charlie Kinslow was nearly a state champion, earning third place with a time of 16:57.3.
Tristan Newkirk and Jonah McGivern finished back-to-back in 34th and 35th places within 0.2 seconds in 17:49. Freshman Noah Rees, sophomore Thomas Deffet, junior Antonio Laguna and senior Hutch Bartee all made it to state as well.
Julia Pattison was the Class 2 Runner-Up in her freshman and sophomore seasons but slipped down to 17th place this go-round. The junior’s third all-state outing had a time of 20:45.8.
The Lady Blue Jays will bring back all of their state runners, including juniors Kaitlynn Reinke and Maggie Howard. Freshmen Brie Elmore, Payton Reber, Blair McHenry and Addison Bailey gained experience last fall.
Despite finishing with its least number of wins since 2017, the West Platte volleyball team was on the verge of another district title. The Lady Blue Jays took down one of the top teams in all of Class 2 when they stunned Bishop LeBlond in four sets of the Class 2 District 16 Semifinals.
For the second straight season, West Platte was swept by East Buchanan in the district championship at the rival’s high school. The Lady Blue Jays ended the fall with a 15-12-4 record.
Following a soft rebuild, the West Platte football team had its worst season in the Jim Newsted era with a 3-7 record. Newsted took over as head coach following a 1-win season in 2019 and led the Blue Jays to 5-6 and 8-3 in 2020 and 2021.
Kane Cogan was the quarterback for West Platte in his sophomore campaign
In 2021, West Platte was senior heavy so there weren’t many experienced players who returned last fall. Ken Cogan took the helm at quarterback with 1,042 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns, while Afton Buckler led the rushing attack with 735 total yards and four touchdowns.
West Platte split the opening four games with wins against South Harrison and Plattsburg and losses to Polo and Mid-Buchanan. After back-to-back losses to Lawson and East Buchanan, the Blue Jays narrowly defeated Lathrop 10-8 for their final win of the fall.
West Platte fell short in its last home game against North Platte before traveling to Penney in back-to-back weeks in the regular season finale and the opening round of the Class 1 District 8 Tournament. The Blue Jays made adjustments after the 46-8 regular season matchup and put up more of a fight in the postseason, but still lost 25-20.
Going into the softball season, six years had passed since West Platte’s last postseason triumph and that drought continued. The Lady Blue Jays were the higher seed in their opening matchup against Plattsburg in the Class 2 District 7 Tournament.
In a No. 4 versus No. 5 matchup, Plattsburg scored the opening four runs, but West Platte rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning. Laura Hill and Emma Downing had a pair of RBI singles, making the score 4-2, but Emily Van Natta grounded out with two runners on, and the game ended in a Lady Tiger victory.
West Platte had a pair of winning streaks throughout the fall – starting off 3-0 then winning five consecutive games after back-to-back losses – but lost the final four games of the year, including the postseason. The Lady Blue Jays ended 2022 with an 11-10 record, the third time in the last three seasons to have exactly 11 wins.