Platte County junior Andrew Johnson (#1556) ran with the front pack of runners in the Class 4 State Meet before finishing in eighth place with a time of 16:03.3 on Nov. 4.
With both teams competing in the Class 4 State Meet, juniors Sisely Mitchell and Andrew Johnson led the way for Platte County as the duo finished on the podium at Gans Creek in Columbia, Missouri, on Nov. 4.
It has become a tradition for Platte County to make it to state cross-country as a team as the boys finished in ninth place for the second consecutive season, after an eighth-place finish in 2020. The Lady Pirates finished in 14th place in their third straight year competing at state.
“It was definitely a tough race,” Andrew Johnson said. “I thought I personally could do a little bit better, but there were definitely a few points in the race where they just pulled away from me and I just tried to finish with my best.”
Johnson was in a pack of eight runners that ran out of the gate close together and as the race progressed, the other seven slowly got ahead of the Platte County junior. Johnson finished in eighth place with a time of 16:03.3.
“That pack basically determined the winner. I think (Josh) Antrim and (Jonah) Allison were in front of that pack and controlling it the entire time and they basically determined from the beginning that they were winning,” Johnson said.
Senior Josh Allison – from Hillsboro – won the race in 15:38.9 and he was followed by four other runners, including senior teammate Jonah Allison, who all finished in under 16 minutes. Two more runners finished two seconds faster than Johnson who has stepped up as the Pirates’ top runner this fall after being overshadowed by 2021 senior Andrew Early, who is now running collegiately at Pittsburg State University.
“It’s definitely different this year because I don’t have a teammate to chase. Now that I’ve gone against other schools and other individuals, I kind of have to adjust my racing strategies to be better than theirs,” Johnson said.
Junior Kade Meinke was the next Pirate to cross the finish line – taking 57th place in 17:30.3 – and was followed by a pair of teammates in the following 31 seconds. Kage Audas ended in 69th place with a time of 17:44.9 and Tanner Jenks finished with a time of 18:01 in 89th place.
Freshmen Donavin Ness and Blake Herron were the next two Platte County runners to complete the race, finishing with times of 18:15.5 and 18:20.9, respectively. Tanner Johnson finished his Pirate career off in 19:09.2, which was good enough for 139th place out of 159 total runners.
On the girls’ side, Mitchell was the top Platte County runner, while junior Carmen Gentilia was on pace for an all-state finish before falling back to 30th overall with a time of 20:15.6. The top-25 finishers are awarded all-state honors and for the second straight year, Mitchell accomplished that feat.
“My goal this race was to go out and see if I could stick with that lead pack, and it just seemed like they just kept moving and I wasn’t moving with them,” Sisely Mitchell said. “But you know, sometimes that happens, and I just kept going and gave my best today.”
Mitchell was the 12th girl to cross the finish line, doing so with a time of 19:27.2. Coming off an 11th place finish at state last fall, the Lady Pirate dealt with some windy conditions in her final race in her junior campaign.
“You could definitely feel the wind on the straightaways, so I had to push through. I didn’t really have anyone next to me to guard the wind or anything, but other than that, I love Gans Creek and it’s a very nice course,” Mitchell said.
After Mitchell and Gentilia were two more juniors – Marissa Orellana and Alex Beeman – and sophomore Annabel Beeman. Orellana claimed 134th place with a time of 23:04.4, while the Beemans finished back-to-back in 142nd and 143rd places with times of 23:33.3 and 23:34.9, respectively.
Freshman Joanna Reil finished with a time of 23:46.4 and junior Julia Greco crossed the finish line in 24:31.8. The Lady Pirates had an average split of 21:59.08, while the Platte County boys averaged times of 17:31