The West Platte state champion 4x200 team of Brady McMillan, Will Shafer, Augie Hill and Jonah McGivern stand on the podium with hardware at the Class 2 State Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 18.
JEFFERSON CITY – For the better part of a decade, West Platte has been known as a track and field school and that was solidified at the Class 2 State Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 18.
West Platte has talented athletes walk the halls every year who have shining moment in all sports, but track is the only one that ends with a deep postseason run year in and year out. Cross-country is a close second, but the Blue Jays have now brought home a state banner for the fifth time since 2018.
From 2018 to 2021, the Lady Blue Jays earned all-state honors thrice – which included back-to-back championships to start that run off strong – with much credit going to Bailee Giger who has built the program up since taking over the girls’ side in 2017. The West Platte boys’ have taken a page out of the girls’ book with two straight third place finishes at state.
Losing two key long-distance runners from a year ago – Charlie Kinslow and Tristan Newkirk – the Blue Jays repeated the success in a different way. Some new faces got some state exposure with larger roles to let Jim Newsted walk into retirement on a high note.
“This team was one of the best teams I have had the pleasure of coaching in my 30-year career,” West Platte head boys’ track and field coach Jim Newsted said. “We finished the year with seven school records, a runner-up plaque at the KCI conference, a runner-up plaque at districts and now another third-place finish at state. I couldn’t think of a better group of kids to end my coaching career with.”
West Platte was a tight knit group this year, having six boys compete in seven events at state with each one being all-state caliber. There were records set all year long and that was no different on the biggest stage, tallying three more.
West Platte junior Sam Baker set a new school record in the 200 with a preliminary time of 25.25 seconds at the Class 2 State Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 17.
“Over my years I have had teams do well in plaque at state level, but this is the first time in my career that this happened. Seven events and seven placements at state is impressive. If you add the girls to the equation, we qualified in 17 events and 15 of them medaled or placed,” Newsted said.
The most impressive was the state champion 4x100 that sped through two laps in 1:29.74, which was the boys first state title since Max Davies in the mile in 2019. Augie Hill, Jonah McGivern, Brady McMillan and Will Shafer didn’t run this relay together until districts and still were able to become the fastest in the state in a few races together.
“We worked those handoffs every practice,” Will Shafer said to MOKSSports reporter Nate Kendall. “We really got toned in after that last preliminary race for the finals.”
Alex Kinslow and Jonah McGivern subbed in for the other two relays that finished top-3. The 4x100 was the runner-up in 43.64 seconds and the 4x400 had a PR time of 3:27.59, earning third.
Hill wasn’t only a speedster in the relays, also taking third place in the 100 in 10.74 to set a school record. The Kinslow name has been connected to many records over the years and added another one when Alex ran the 300-meter hurdles in 40.3 seconds to take third.
“It feels incredible to accomplish this as a sophomore; I was here last year (in relays) but it’s nothing compared to what you feel here,” Alex Kinslow said to Nate Kendall. “You’re just flying and it’s awesome to be a part of this competition.”
Miles McHenry has made a name for himself in recent years at West Platte and that didn’t stop in his final outing as a high school athlete. He not only set the program record in the 300-meter hurdles with a fourth-place time of 15.58 seconds, but also threw the javelin 48.75-meter to collect a sixth-place medal.
The Lady Blue Jays didn’t bring home another banner, but still rocked and rolled with who they sent, earning 23 points, taking 12th place and setting two school records. West Platte relied heavily on its relays, led by the two that had Hailey Peters, Sophie Grier and Sam Baker, which took fourth place.
Klaira Groom helped the 4x100 to a season-best time of 50.65 seconds and Avery Holmes was on the 4x200 that ran in 51.26 seconds after a season-best prelims time of 1:48.16. In preliminaries of the 4x400, Baker, Holmes, Julia Pattison and Maddie McMillan broke the 43-year-old record with a time of 4:10.07 before earning seventh place in finals, 5.7 seconds slower.
Seniors Pattison, McMillan and Holmes were aside sophomore Blair McHenry in the fifth-place 4x800 that finished in a season-best time of 10:10.67. Pattison ended her prolific running career at West Platte with a sixth-place, season-best time of 12:09.3 in the 2-mile.
McMillan became the first javelin state medalist in school history. She dealt with an injury late in the season, faced adversity and came out the other side with a 35.23-meter, eighth place throw at state.
“I had an excuse to get out of it, but I didn’t want to end my senior season like this and go out on top,” Maddison McMillan said to Nate Kendall. “I didn’t throw my best today, but I did what I needed to.”
In the 200, Baker ran a faster time in preliminaries where she set a record of 25.25 seconds. She took seventh place in the finals in 25.67 seconds.
Hailey Peters finished in eighth place in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.61 seconds. Addison Bailey missed the podium in the long jump when she took 11th place with a 10.01-meter leap, as did Holmes in the 800 with a 12th place finish in 2:30.69.