The North Platte girls’ cross-country team holds up the Class 2 State Championship Plaque after winning the first title in program history last fall.
North Platte athletics started the school year off hot, bringing home its first cross-country state title in program history, finishing above .500 for the first time since 2011 in football and winning its most softball games since 2014.
The Lady Panthers were coming off its first ever state championship in the previous spring with track and field before collecting another banner in cross-country. North Platte ran away at state, having three of the top-11 finishers and ending with 25 less points than Hermann, the runner-up.
Freshman Chloe Heckman was the first Lady Panther to finish, crossing the finish line seventh overall in 20:16. Brianna DeBord was two places and 5.4 seconds later and Jessa Cassity took 11th place with a time of 20:25.1.
Shelby Lingle was the 19th runner to complete the 5K, doing so with a time of 21:00.6. Lonee French, Alaina Scroggins and Lily Schaffart were the final three North Platte athletes who led the team to a state title.
Josh Schaffart was an all-stater, being the sixth overall runner in a career best time of 16:59.9 and Noah Heckman was the 19th finisher with a time of 17:27.2. The Panthers finished in fourth place overall, which was the best in program history.
The North Platte football team entered the fall with back-to-back winless seasons and 21 consecutive losses, but the first year under head coach Jared Quigley was a big difference. The Panthers lost two of their first three games to Gallatin and East Buchanan who both only lost one game all season, with a shutout win over Maysville in week 2.
North Platte took down Penney in double overtime and annihilated Plattsburg before dropping two straight. The Panthers won three in a row before being eliminated by Mid-Buchanan in the Class 1 District 8 Semifinals, their first time making it out of the first round since 2018.
North Platte ended with a 6-5 record, which matches its number of wins total from 2018-2021. Junior quarterback Colton Kirkham and running back Liam Servaes will be back next fall with district realignment looking to be in the Panthers favor.
Josh Schaffart poses with head cross-country coach Brendan Cary after having a PR and being the first Panther to cross the finish line at state.
In softball, North Platte went undefeated on the road and had an 8-2 home record and ended 22-4. The Lady Panthers were in Class 2 and two of their three losses were against Class 3 opponents and the other being a 6-5 loss to Lawson in the second to last game of the regular season.
North Platte came out of the gate hot, winning the first 11 games and only allowing more than four runs once. Throughout the year, the Lady Panthers averaged 9.5 runs per game and only allowed three runs to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Class 2 District 7 Tournament.
After taking down Plattsburg 11-4, North Platte lost a 1-run heartbreaker in the district championship to Mid-Buchanan – who North Platte had beat 7-3 earlier in the year – after leading 3-0. The game was tied heading into the seventh inning until the Lady Dragons opened the inning with a solo home run and the Lady Panthers were unable to respond.
The North Platte volleyball team had a rough year, only winning two matches out of 27. The Lady Panthers tied with Plattsburg in the KCI Tournament along with beating Penney and Orrick in back-to-back matches midway through the season.