West Platte senior Charlie Kinslow and Platte County junior Sisely Mitchell both came out on top of the boys’ and girls’ races at the Platte County Invitational that was held at Platte Ridge Park on September 15.
The Platte County boys brought home the title and the West Platte boys finished in 3rd place out of 15 teams, with Chillicothe being the second-place boys’ team. Kinslow and Platte County junior Andrew Johnson were the first two runners to cross the finish line and the duo was in a tight race from the get-go.
The two runners led the pack throughout the 3.1 miles, running stride for stride until there was around 300 meters left in the race. Kinslow turned on his jets and finished the race with a 6.3 second win with a time of 16.48.9 – becoming the first Blue Jay to ever win the Platte County Invite – and Johnson took second place in 16:55.2.
North Platte junior Noah Heckman wasn’t far behind as he finished in fifth overall with a time of 18:14.70. Josh Schaffart took 22nd place in 19:17.90 for the Panthers, while Drake Keraus ended in 40th place and Hunter Palmer finished in 47th place.
Platte County junior Kade Meinke was the sixth runner to cross the finish line in 18:21.20. The Pirates did some damage with sub-20:00 times, with every runner doing so and with five finishers from 19th place to 30th place.
Platte County junior Andrew Johnson and West Platte senior Charlie Kinslow ran a tight race at the Platte County Invitational at Platte Ridge Park on Sept. 15.
Kage Audas completed the race in 19:00.50, immediately followed by Tanner Jenks in 19:02.80 in 20th place. Freshmen Blake Herron and Donavin Ness ended in 25th and 28th places, respectively, while Aspyn Hutchinson-Nelson took 30th place with a time of 19:41.20.
The Blue Jay duo of Jonah McGivern and Tristan Newkirk ran well, both finishing in the top-15 out of 113 total runners. McGivern ran his course best time of 18:33 in 11th place and Newkirk was close behind at 18:52.4 in 15th place.
Noah Rees continued to have a solid freshman season as he ran in 20:24.1 in 44th place, two spots ahead of Thomas Deffet who took 13 seconds off his PR when he ran fifth for the Blue Jays in 20:30.2. Hutch Bartee completed the 5k in 22:13.3 and Antonia Laguna finished with a time of 25:34.8.
On the girls’ side, North Platte won the Platte County Invite with 42 points and the Lady Pirates finished in third place with 63 points. The Lady Panthers had three of the top-6 finishers, starting with freshman Chloe Heckman who crossed the finish line third overall in 21:34.7.
Jessa Cassity was the next Lady Panther to complete the 5k as the senior ended in 22:09.4. Brianna DeBord collected sixth place overall, finishing with a time of 22:19.1.
North Platte’s final four runners were all seniors, beginning with Shelby Lingle taking 14th place in 23:44.8. Alaina Scroggins finished in 23rd place with a time of 24:19.7, Lonee French ended in 35th place in 25:10.9 and Audrey Buckler was the 62nd girl to cross the finish line with a 28:23.3 time.
For the first time in her illustrious career, Mitchell won her home meet when the junior crossed the finish line in 20:35.6. Carmen Gentilia helped lead the Lady Pirates to a top-3 finish overall as she ended in fourth place with a time of 22:01.
Lilliana Kytasaari and Alex Beeman finished in 19th and 22nd places with times of 24:00.9 and 24:11.7, respectively. Madison Palmer finished in 37th place in 25:16.9 and right behind her was Annabel Beeman with a 25:18.2 time.
For the West Platte girls, Julia Pattison finished seventh overall and had a solid day on the course with a time of 22:47.6. Payton Reber and Addison Bailey were the other two Blue Jay ladies running, finishing in 25:15.9 and 26:12.1, respectively.