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.