West Platte sophomore Julia Pattison started the season off with a first-place individual finish while the North Platte girls’ cross-country team came out on top as a team in the North Platte Invitational 2-Mile Competition.
Pattison was more than 30 seconds faster than the next girl as the sophomore phenom passed the finish line first with a 13:25 split. Right behind her was the Panther duo of Brianna Debord and Jessa Cassity in second and third place.
The Panthers had three more girls finish in the top-10: Shelby Lingle in sixth place, Alaina Scroggins in seventh place and Lonee Brumm in 10th place. North Platte senior Jenna Cassity finished with a time of 17:28 in 13th place to give the Panthers 23 points and a first-place finish as a team.
West Platte came in second place with 57 points as the next finisher after Pattison was Alex Snegireva in 17th place. Lina Hennies was two spots behind her as the junior ended with an 18:29 split.
“Julia Pattison picked up where she left off last season, winning the race with a 40 second improvement from last season,” West Platte head coach Mike Lowe said. “With several of the team’s runners at volleyball practice, the team relied on two foreign exchange students to fill in the spots - Lina Hennies and Alex Snegireva.”
West Platte sophomore finished in first place in the North Platte Invitational 2-Mile Competition on Aug. 31.
To wrap up the first race of the season for West Platte, Addison Rinehart finished in 24th place and Olivia Marquart ended in 34th place. Coach Lowe told the Platte County Citizen that he is pleased with the girl’s effort.
“Alex missed a medal by two spots while her and (Lina) Hennies both finished in the top half of the field. Not bad for never having run before,” Lowe said.