The Blue Jays are looking to retool their distance running group after losing some seniors, including Avery Holmes and state medalist Julia Pattison.
West Platte will look to transfer some of its cross country stars into track stars with the additions of Katie Carletti, Caroline Ransome, Payton Reber and Jersey O’Neal to the team.
Head coach Bailee Giger is optimistic that the new distance additions from the cross country team, which finished second at state in the fall, will transition smoothly and successfully onto the track.
“I’m really excited for another track season,” Giger said. “Although our senior class is small, they have worked really hard for four years and achieved much in their careers. Their leadership on the girls side will be invaluable. We have quite a few fresh faces to add to the team and it will be fun to see what they can accomplish over the season.”
The senior trio of Sam Baker, Aurora Green and Hailey Peters will get their last shot at getting back to the state medal stand. Baker and Peters bring the speed on the track while Green brings her experience in throwing events.
Baker is coming off a tremendous 2024 campaign where she became a state medalist in the 4x100-meter relay, the 4x200m relay, the 4x400m relay and 200m dash. Peters was also a member of both state medal relay teams and can do some damage on the hurdles, where she medaled in the 100-meter hurdles event last year.
Juniors Sophie Grier and Addi Bailey are also candidates for a deep postseason run. Grier was a member of the fourth-place 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams that medaled at state last year while Bailey was a state qualifier in the triple jump as a sophomore.