For the second straight season, West Platte sophomore Julia Pattison ended in first place in the KCI Conference at Platte Ridge Park on Oct. 16.
The West Platte Invitational had 12 non-conference schools compete, so each KCI Conference runner and team finished separately in the invite and in the conference. The North Platte girls’ cross-country team finished in first place as a team in the conference and West Platte finished in second place, but Christ Preparatory Academy won the Invite with 35 points.
North Platte ended with 40 points and West Platte ended with 79 points for second and third place overall. Pattison was the first runner to cross the finish line as she ended with a time of 19:38.
West Platte sophomore Julia Pattison was the first KCI runner to finish at the conference meet on Oct. 16.
“Pattison won by an astounding 80 seconds over the 2nd place runner,” West Platte cross-country head coach Mike Lowe said. “She finished the race in a better time than what she ran on the state course last year when she finished second in the entire Class 2.”
North Platte freshman Brianna DeBord was the next runner to finish as the Panther ended with a time of 20:58. North Platte junior Jessa Cassity finished with a time of 21:18, earning fourth place overall and third place in the conference.
Shelby Lingle and Alaina Scroggins both finished in the top-15 overall and top-5 in the KCI Conference. Lingle finished with a time of 22:22 and Scroggins ended with a 23:12 time.
For West Platte, Kaitlyn Reinke finished 17th overall with a time of 23:14. Blue Jay senior Katie Groom finished the 5K in 25:00, which was 28th overall.
“Reinke took 1:10 off her previous best time and finished in eighth place in the conference. Groom ran her third race of the season and managed to set a new PR by 20 seconds despite running on a sore ankle that she hurt in volleyball,” Lowe said.
North Platte’s Lonee French narrowly finished in the top-10 when the junior finished the race with a time of 23:54. Audrey Buckler finished with a time of 27:16, earning her 17th place in the conference.
West Platte’s Alex Snegiriva finished in 19th place in the KCI, and Lina Hennies was two places back. Panther sophomore Alex Helderman ended between the Blue Jay duo when the North Platte sophomore finished with a time of 28:35.