North Platte sophomore Chloe Heckman was the fifth-place girl runner in the Tim Nixon Invitational Silver Race at Capital Federal Sports Complex on Sept. 2.
LIBERTY – North Platte is coming off an impressive 2022 campaign and started 2023 strong taking fourth place at the Tim Nixon Invitational at Capital Federal Sports Complex on Sept. 2.
There were two races, boys’ and girls’, with numerous schools so the races were split into Gold and Silver Divisions based on the size. North Platte and West Platte were in the Silver Division with seven girls’ schools and 11 boys’ schools who had enough runners to compete as a team.
The Lady Panthers claimed fourth place with 109 points as the Lady Blue Jays only had four runners. In the boys’ race, North Platte took fourth place with 125 points and West Platte was in ninth place with 211 points.
North Platte sophomore Chloe Heckman led the way for the North Platte girls with a fifth-place finish in 19:52.3. Brianna DeBord wasn’t too far behind, crossing the finish line in 21:33.2 to earn 14th place.
Annabell DeBord had an impressive high school debut as she took 34th place, right ahead of senior Caitlyn Cummings. Annabell DeBord completed the 5K in 24:02.5 and Cummings ended in 24:04.
Lily Schaffart took 60th place in 27:45 and Kylee Sipes was the 67th Silver Division runner to cross the finish line, doing so in 28:27. Kearney, Eudora and Smithville were the schools that beat North Platte.
All four of West Platte’s runners ran in the top-56, led by Julia Pattison who took 10th place in 20:59.7. Addison Bailey earned 26th place in 22:57.7, Payton Reber took 36th place in 24:07.7 and Maggie Howard placed 56th in 25:35.6.
In the boys’ race, Noah Heckman and Drake Keraus finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh places. Heckman finished with a time of 17:11.5 and Keraus ended in 17:15.4.
Hunter Palmer and Mark Humes also finished close together, taking 36th and 38th places, respectively. Palmer crossed the finish line in 19:29.4 and Humes ran in 19:38.5, while freshmen Davin Navarro and Hudson Buckler rounded out the Panthers’ lineup.
West Platte junior Jonah McGivern was far and away the fastest Blue Jay. He ran 14th in the Silver Division in 18:00.
Noah Rees was next for West Platte, taking 32nd place in 19:13.3 and Thomas Deffet took 46th place in 20:08.6. Freshman Wyatt Larsen and sophomore Nicholas Snodgrass both ran sub-23 minute races.