Coming off an impressive fall across the board, the West Platte and North Platte boys and girls cross-country teams are peaking at the right time as all four punched a ticket to state after remarkable performances at the Class 2 District 4 Meet at Platte Ridge Park on Oct. 29.
North Platte came out with a pair of district titles, coming out as the victor in both the boys’ and girls’ races. The West Platte boys’ team led off the day with a second-place overall finish and the girls followed that up with a third-place finish in their race.
Charlie Kinslow ran his last race on the Platte Ridge course and finished on top as he ran in 17:04 – which would have been good enough to win the Class 3 District 4 Race as well – by kicking in the gears late and defeating the second-place runner from Stover by three seconds. The race was tight through the first 4,600 meters and then Kinslow took control to win it for his third straight individual district title.
“A West Platte runner has won its district race six years in a row with Max Davies winning in 2017 and 2018 after Phillip Pattison took home the title in 2019,” West Platte head cross-country coach Mike Lowe said. “Charlie joins a great group of runners keeping that streak alive.”
North Platte senior Josh Schaffart finished in fifth place with a time of 17:33 to lead the Panther runners. Noah Heckman finished in seventh place when the junior crossed the finish line in 17:44.
North Platte’s Chloe Heckman, Jessa Cassity and Brianna DeBord (left to right) ran tight together until the final stretch when Heckman pulled away as the Lady Panther trio all finished in the top-4 at the Class 2 District 4 Meet at Platte Ridge Park on Oct. 29.
The Blue Jays added some more points to the board as Jonah McGivern and Tristan Newkirk finished in 11th and 12th, but there was a bit of a gap before Noah Rees ended in 34th place. McGivern finished in 18:06, Newkirk ended in 18:07 and Rees completed the 5K in 19:29.
“Thomas Deffet was the last of the Jays’ runners today as Hutch Bartee and Antonio Laguna had a choir event they had to attend. Kudos to the North Platte Boys for running a great race to claim the district title,” Lowe said.
Deffet ran a time of 22:14 and West Platte qualified for state as it is coming off a sixth-place finish last season. North Platte has improved throughout the year to help claim this season’s district title.
Freshmen Drake Keraus and Hunter Palmer have been key additions to the squad, helping the Panthers in the district race as the duo finished in 18th and 22nd places. Keraus finished with a time of 18:51 and Palmer ended in 19:00.
Sophomore Waylon McCracken finished with a time of 21:25 and freshman Jackson Cassity crossed the finish line in 23:05. The North Platte boys haven’t qualified for state as a team since 2019 when it claimed eighth place.
On the other side, making it beyond districts has become an anomaly for the North Platte girls who are coming off three consecutive top-3 finishes at state. The Lady Panthers continued the streak with another district title, including having three of the top-four finishers.
Sophomore Brianna DeBord, senior Jessa Cassity and freshman Chloe Heckman ran together for a majority of the race and only trailed one other runner. DeBord pulled away from her teammates in the final stretch to come out with a second-place finish with a time of 20:20.
Cassity and Heckman ended within 0.27 seconds of one another with the upperclassmen narrowly crossing the finish line first. They both ended in 20:28.
Seniors Shelby Lingle and Lonee French added to the impressive outing with 12th and 16th place finishes with times of 22:20 and 22:46, respectively. Alaina Scroggins took 27th place with a time of 23:33 and Lily Schaffart ended in 34th place in 24:22.
West Platte junior Julia Pattison ran seventh place on the day, finishing in a time of 21:47. Pattison has been the runner-up at state each of the last two years and this will be the first time since her freshman year that she’ll be joined by teammates.
“Place wise, this is right where Julia was expected to run. The excitement for West Platte was the next two runners when Addison Bailey ran an almost season best of 23:28 to finish nine spots better than expected and Brie Elmore took a full minute off her PR to place third for the Jays, just missing out on a medal as she placed 33rd and the top 30 medal,” Lowe said.
Bailey finished in 24th place and Elmore ended with a time of 24:19. Kaitlyn Reinke and Payton Reber were the next two West Platte finishers as the duo ended in 36th and 43rd places with times of 24:43 and 25:34, respectively.
“Kaitlyn Reinke ran her best time of the season, and she was followed by Payton Reber who helped the team scoring with a total of 97, easily beating out Smithton for third place. Maggie Howard set herself a new PR by almost 20 seconds, running sixth for the ladies with a time of 26:53 and Blair McHenry ran her second-best race of the season finishing 59th in a time of 27:14,” Lowe said.
All four teams – the North Platte and West Platte boys and girls – will run at the Class 2 State Meet in Columbia on Nov. 5. The girls will run first at 9 a.m. followed by the boys at 9:45 a.m. at Gans Creek.