Sophomore Julia Pattison continued to impress as the Blue Jay finished in eighth place overall for the West Platte girls’ cross-country team at the Raymore-Peculiar Invitational Meet on Sept. 11.
The Blue Jays ended in fourth place overall against the schools in Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3. Among the smaller schools, Pattison was the top-finisher when she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:18.
“It is a great statement for Julia that she finished in the top-10 overall while racing against Class 4 and Class 5 runners,” West Platte head cross-country coach Mike Lowe said.
In her second race of the year, sophomore Kaitlin Reinke finished in 16th place with a 24:53 split. That is more than a minute faster than her time from the 2020 season.
West Platte sophomore Julia Pattison runs closely with Class 4 and Class 5 runners at the end of the Raymore-Peculiar Course on Sept. 11. Pattison finished eight overall and first place among schools in Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3 with a time of 20:18.
Katie Groom also ran her best career time on the Raymore-Peculiar course, finishing 18th with a time of 24:58. Groom and Reinke haven’t been running at all of the meets so far since they also play volleyball for West Platte.
“I saw some great effort today from girls who are also playing volleyball,” Lowe said.
The next two finishers for West Platte were Maggie Howard in 32nd place and Groom Klaira in 36th place. Howard’s split was 29:08 and Klaira ended with a 30:41 time.
Addison Rinehart and Olivia Marquart, who both play volleyball too, made their season debuts on Sept. 11. Rinehart ended in 39th place with a time of 32:54 and Marquart finished with a 36:27 time in 41st place.
“The girls have a chance to do some really good things if they keep running hard and run with passion. However, there is still a lot of work to be done,” Lowe said.