West Platte again showed off potential during a trip to the Kearney Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 7.
Max Davies set a new personal best, and the Bluejays shined among a field of mostly larger schools at Jesse James Fairgrounds in Kearney, Mo. Davies placed 11th overall — the only Class 1 or Class 2 athlete in the top 20 of the individual standings in a field of 214 runners.
Davies’ time of 17 minutes, 30.20 seconds bettered his previous best by about 4 seconds.
West Platte finished 13th out of 29 teams with a total of 420. Phillip Pattison, a sophomore, was second for the Bluejays in 44th place at 18:44.50.
North Platte placed 16th as a team with junior Zach Lee leading the Panthers in 60th (19:21.00). West Platte’s Andrew Cicha was just behind him in 75th.
West Platte’s girls team again featured just two runners, but sophomore Lexi Elmore placed 18th overall in 21:48. Sophia Rush, a freshman, posted a new personal best at 22:38 — good for 39th in a field of 155.
North Platte senior Bailee Romaker was the Panthers’ top finisher in 82nd.
Mound City Invitational
West Platte swept the individual titles Tuesday, Oct. 3 in Mound City, Mo. in a small school only meet.
Davies and Pattison finished first and second for the Bluejays to lead a team championship effort. They totaled 28 points to win the title with North Platte in second at 50.
West Platte and North Platte accounted for seven of the top 10 individuals.
Cicha, a senior, took fourth for West Platte with North Platte’s Tyler Meadows and Lee — both juniors — next but in a pack further back. West Platte senior Justin Howard was ninth, while North Platte junior Joe DeMarcus rounded out the top 10.
Elmore won the first race of her West Platte career, finishing in 21:37.95 to beat St. Joseph Christian’s Audrey Maggart to the line by more than 15 seconds. Rush was seventh for the Bluejays, but they only had two runners and could not qualify for a team score.
Only St. Joseph Christian and Mound City had qualifying teams in the 22-runner field. Romaker was 10th to lead the Panthers.