Park Hill and Park Hill South both got a glimpse of the new MSHSAA cross country course on Saturday, Sept. 28 in Columbia.

The two teams took part in the Gans Creek Classic, which will host the state championship on Nov. 9.

The Panthers had a pair of medalists in Quentin Worley and Ethan Mick, who placed 10th and 16th, respectively.

The two were separated by five seconds in a race (16:25 and 16:31) with 248 runners in the Gold Division.

Overall, the Panthers were 17th in the team standings. Division rival Liberty won the team title with 206, followed by Festus, Kirkwood, St. Joseph Central and Marquette in the top five.

“I’m very happy with how Worley and Mick raced this weekend,” Park Hill South coach AJ Roth said. “They made sure to stay with the lead pack to give them a chance to medal. Mick really impressed me on Saturday with his mental toughness. I know he was hurting but he was able to push through and get a personal record.”

The Park Hill South girls took 25th place and had one runner in the top 100: junior Skyelar Nelson in 91st place.

Park Hill’s Isaiah Phillips had a 10th place finish in the Blue Division, running 17:10.90. Teammate Ryan Fette was 51st, coming in 1:12 behind Phillips.

The Trojans were 12th overall in the team standings.

Park Hill took sixth in the girls’ standings with 212 points, second among Kansas City teams. Kearney was third, 41 points ahead of the Trojans.

Park Hill placed four in the top 75, led by senior Avery Blakley’s 19th-place showing and earning a medal. Abigail Fette was 44th, followed by last year’s state qualifier Lelise Mekonnin who took 56th.

Rim Rock Farm Classic

The Platte County boys and girls teams took part in the Rim Rock race in Lawerence, Kan.

Each team had at least one medalist, with the girls having two in the top 20. Taylor Giger was 10th (20:11.40) and Maddie Klippenstein took 18th (20:19.80). Ryanne Rhude and Jenna Jurgensmeyer placed 67th and 69th for the Pirates, which took sixth in the standings.

The Pirates were the first Missouri team in the standings, as Bishop Kelley of Tulsa took first, followed by Iowa City West and Derby, Kan.

Matthew Sullivan ran 16:46.80 to take 12th place for the Pirates in the Crimson Division. Andrew Early took 100th and was the second Platte County runner to cross the line.

The team finished 19th overall in the team standings.

Smithville Invitational

North Platte and West Platte each had championship showings at the Smithville Invitational on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Smith’s Fork Park.

West Platte had a 1-2 finish in the boy’s race with senior Phillip Pattison winning in 18 minutes, 39.50 seconds, while freshman Charlie Kinslow ran 18:39.50 to finish in second place.

The win was the third of the year for Pattison, who has ascended to the top spot after serving as an understudy to Max Davies.

North Platte freshman Josh Schaffart took ninth place and teammate Danny Fleshman was 25th.

West Platte finished third in the team standings and North Platte was fifth, 29 points apart. Smithville won the team title with 75 points and Oak Grove was second with 93, 13 less than West Platte.

On the girl’s side, North Platte had a team score of 31 and beat Smithville by four points.

North Platte had four runners in the top 20. Freshman Jessa Cassity was ninth and sister, Jenna, was 14th. Alaina Scroggins took 16th and Madi O’Neill finished 18th.

It was the first team win for North Platte since 2016 in Cameorn.

West Platte’s Lexi Elmore placed fourth, while juniors Sophia Rush and Bella Clark took 11th and 12th, respectively.

Up Next

North Platte and West Platte are idle until taking part in the Bishop LeBlond meet on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Missouri Western in St. Joseph.

Park Hill South and Platte County will take part in the Kansas City Cross Country Classic on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Ray-Pec High School. Park Hill will travel to Grain Valley for the Eagles Invitational the same day.

The Platte County Citizen