West Platte freshman Josh Tiffany broke his PR in the pole vault by two feet - with a vault of 11-00.25 feet - to take second place in the event and help the Blue Jays outlast East Buchanan by 0.5 points to win the KCI Conference Meet.
Claiming a conference title was a long time coming for the West Platte boys’ track and field team who won the KCI Conference Meet for the first time since 1968 at Lathrop High School on April 29.
West Platte and East Buchanan were in a tight race for first place that ended up coming down to less than one point. When the track meet ended, the Blue Jays had 159.5 points and the Bulldogs had 159 points.
“Going into the meet, we knew it would be a battle between the West Platte and East Buchanan boys,” West Platte head boys’ track and field coach Jim Newsted said. “We emphasized to the boys that every point is going to count and that East Buch would be ahead of our team early with their dominance in certain field events.”
West Platte trailed East Buchanan in the beginning, especially after the 4x200-meter relay. The Blue Jays have a talented relay team but dropped the baton in the race and were disqualified, which put them in fifth place – 50 points behind the Bulldogs – at the time.
West Platte junior Miles McHenry took fifth place in the 110-meter hurdles and fourth place in the 300-meter hurdles in the KCI Conference Track Meet.
“After the dropped baton, we began to dominate on the track. Charlie Kinslow took three first places individually, the 4x100 and 4x400 both took first and we placed three athletes in the 300 hurdles,” Newsted said.
Kinslow went a perfect four-for-four on the day, winning the 400, 800 and 1,600-meter runs, along with being on the 4x400-meter relay. The West Platte senior’s performance helped pick up the pace to eventually go ahead of East Buchanan.
August Hill won the 200-meter dash in 23.39 seconds and claimed second place in the 100-meter dash when he crossed the finish line in 11.28 seconds. Jonah McGivern claimed fifth place in the same two races with times of 11.62 seconds and 24.4 seconds, along with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash as he completed the race in 53.23 seconds.
Charlie Kinslow went a perfect four-for-four in the events he competed in, claiming a gold medal in the 400-meter dash, 800-meter run, 1,600-meter run and 4x400-meter relay at Lathrop High School.
Miles McHenry had some success in the hurdles, taking fifth place in the 110-meter and fourth place in the 300-meter. When all the races were done on the track, West Platte trailed East Buchanan by 21.5 points with only pole vault left.
“We knew pole vault was an event that we could outscore East Buch in, but 22 points was a stretch. However, our pole vaulters walked away from the event scoring 23 points to East Buch’s one point,” Newsted said.
Wyatt Wallingford – who has set the program record in the pole vault multiple times this year – came away with the best vault in the conference. The senior cleared the 11-06.25-foot bar to collect another gold medal.
Freshman Josh Tiffany rose to the occasion, coming into the day ranked seventh in the conference but coming out with a second-place vault of 11-00.25 feet, which was two feet higher than his personal best. Tristan Newkirk had a 10-foot vault to claim fourth place.
Tristan Newkirk was one of three Blue Jays to finish in the top-4 of the pole vault on April 29.
When all the dust cleared from pole vault, West Platte found themselves with 159.5 points to East Buch’s 159 points. The half point came from earlier in the day when Jaxon Davis tied for eighth in the high jump with a leap of 5-01 feet, trailing Hill who took second place with eight inches higher.
“It was a roller coaster of emotions in Lathrop for the boys, but in the end the Blue Jays prevailed with a KCI championship trophy in hand. Every coach, and every athlete brought the competitive spirit and determination to the day. Those who say track isn’t a team sport have never won a team championship,” Newsted said.
West Platte ended the regular season with a historical outing and will look to use that as momentum ahead of the postseason. The Class 2 District 8 Meet will be at West Platte on May 6.