Heili, Oberdiek help West Platte girls to rare win of home track invitational

West Platte’s girls won the team title at their home meet for the first time in Brad Basel’s lifetime, and the veteran coach has been around for a while.

Not only did the Bluejays top the team standings, they scored 157 points to run away from second-place Plattsburg (99) and third-place North Platte (97). There were 10 varsity teams total in the West Platte Invitational on Tuesday, April 12 in Weston, Mo.

West Platte won seven events — six individual and one relay — in addition to bunching together top-three finishes in multiple events.

Sydney Oberdiek neared her personal record to win the discus at 111 feet, 10 inches and also topped the shot put field at 35-8. A third-place finisher in both events last season at the Class 2 Missouri State Track and Field Championships, she came in 2-4 ahead of West Platte senior Jessica Lintner, who placed third and continued to show off her marked improvement in the event.

Rachel Heili also won a pair of events and ran on West Platte’s winning 4x800-meter relay.
Lauren Moose, Gretchen Hiatt, Sikoya Richard and Heili finished in 10:53.95 to easily best North Platte’s second-place team of McKenna Fulton, Maddie Lee, Erin Manville and Lauren Payne (11:09.00). Heili also placed first in the 1,600 at 5:58.10 and the 800 in 2:36.38.

West Platte freshman Lea Moose came in second in the 1,600, while Richard was third in the 800 for the Bluejays. Ciara Davies (400, 1:03.82) and Emily Norman (100 hurdles, 17.04) rounded out West Platte’s event winners.

Norman also placed second in the 300 hurdles.

North Platte ended up third in the team standings in a bunched finish behind West Platte. Second place and fifth place were separated by just 13 points.

Gracie Roach, a sophomore, won the high jump at 4-10 for the Panthers’ lone individual win. She also ran a leg along with McKenna Fulton, Lee and Manville in the 4x400 relay that finished first in 4:23.12.

North Platte’s other three relays all finished second.

Callie Pataluna, a senior, collected a pair of third-place medals in the long jump (16-0½) and triple jump (32-4). She came in behind East Buchanan’s Josie Fortney and Mid-Buchanan’s Bailey Gilbert in both events.

North Platte’s boys were second in the team standings with 100 points.

Gentry Scrivener continued a strong season in the throws by coming in second in the shot put (45-3) and third in the discus. Corbin Green, a sophomore, added a runner-up showing in the 200 (23.85) and ran on the second-place 4x400 relay with Caleb Crumley, Van French and William Morse. The Panthers came in less than a second behind Plattsburg.

West Platte’s Jan Farkas finished just behind Green in the 200. His third place finish helped the Bluejays finish fourth in the team standings with 86 points.