Platte County seniors Sisely Mitchell and Carmen Gentilia hug after breaking the program record in the 4x800 at the Class 5 State Meet at Jefferson City High School on May 25.
JEFFERSON CITY – The third time was the charm for Platte County, which needed that many years in Class 5 to get back to competing at state.
Since making the transition from Class 4 to Class 5 in the spring of 2022, the Platte County girls had failed to score a point at the meet before coming away with 11 points and 21st place at Jefferson City High School on May 25. The Pirates had a solid 11-point, 24th place Class 5 debut in 2022 before Andrew Johnson scored all three points for his team last year and they earned two medals this go-round, claiming 17th place with 14 points.
Over the last four years, it’s been rare to bring up the Platte County girls’ running programs without mentioning Sisely Mitchell. That was evident in her final act where the senior was responsible for two state medals – both of which set program records.
“This was really great, really satisfying,” Sisely Mitchell said. “It’s our last (4x800) race together as seniors and my last time with Platte County for a team. I got fifth place as a freshman on the 4x800, and it was the first race I ever did, so to finish with a fifth place finish again now in Class 5 was awesome.”
Mitchell qualified in the 800 and 4x800, starting off with the individual race on the first day and collecting sixth place. She ran her first lap in 1:05.75 and had to fight her way out of the back of the pack of runners to finish with a career and program-best time of 2:14.26.
“This morning, I saw the verse of the day was, ‘Though you will pass through rough waters, God will lead you through,’ and I was in lane one, and when you’re in lane one, all those girls are going to run right in front of you and you’re going to be in a bad position, but I was prepared. Once I was tucked in there, I had to hang for a bit and when it was time to go, I swung around and kept taking girls until I was in the lead.”
Running the same distance in a different circumstance on day two, Mitchell was the lead-leg of the 4x800. Entering the final race of the season, Mitchell had never been anywhere but first place when handing off the baton all spring and that was no different here as she finished in 2:16.24.
Alexia Myer fell three spots and ran 2:28.54 and Indigo Teufel went up one spot with her 2:21.97 split. Senior Carmen Gentilia was the anchor, running in 2:21.09, to cap off the program-best time of 9:27.83 for the first Class 5 All-State Platte County relay in fifth place.
“It was crazy because we were in third when she got it. At that point, I knew we were getting a state medal, so it was pure joy and comfort; I was super excited,” Mitchell said.
Gentilia struggled as an individual, taking 16th place in the mile with a time of 5:26.17. She started off with a 1:12.55 split with each of the last three laps taking longer than the one before, coming up short of a story book ending in her otherwise lucrative high school career.
Throughout the season, Platte County freshman Kelly Bullano has been a walking school record setter in the javelin, and that was no different on the largest stage. Bullano’s first throw at state was her best one, going 136’4 and being good enough for fifth place and another Lady Pirates’ record.
Addyson Schlake didn’t have as much success in the field events, claiming 11th place in the discus. Her third throw went 115’2, which was 4’7 shy of advancing to finals.
Six months after becoming the Class 4 State Runner-Up in cross-country, Johnson earned that same feat on the track and field. Being the first of two races on the weekend, Johnson left everything out in the eight laps of the 2-mile and set a PR of 9:09.99.
The 16 runners were tight in the first two laps and Johnson was in the middle as he went around the final corner of lap two. He made an outside move and ended up getting in front of the rest of the runners, where he stayed until the final seconds.
“I know I’ve come a long way,” Andrew Johnson said. “I started my freshman year with a 12-something (time) and I’ve managed to make my way all the way down to almost under nine (minutes). It’s a big relief that I have a second place to show for it but being so close to first, it hurts.”
Down the stretch, Kirkwood senior Levi Rowan got around Johnson to pull out the first-place finish. Rowan finished in 9:09.35, which was 0.64 seconds ahead of Johnson.
“As soon as I finished, I thought back to when I made a move and I keep thinking had I waited a little bit longer, could that have given me the point-six seconds that I needed; it’s tough,” Johnson said.
Johnson’s final race in a Platte County uniform was less than ideal when he went from first place in the second lap of the mile to second to last place heading into the final lap. He went on to finish in 15th place with a time of 4:25.42.
Brayden Eschliman, Josh Fraker, Jackson Goodale and Connor Currence continued their legacies as the fastest assembled Pirates’ 4x400 of all time. They broke the program record at sectionals and did it again in preliminaries with a time of 3:17.88.
They slowed down a hair in the finals, crossing the finish line in 3:18.2 and bringing home the bronze. The finish was tight, having the state champion Lee’s Summit North end in 3:17.76, which was 0.01 faster than the runner-up Lee’s Summit.