Park Hill South’s Cole James (#13) and Platte County’s Ryan McCoy (#4) run alongside each other down the final stretch of the 800-meter run in the Kearney Classic Track and Field Invitational on April 6.
Park Hill South and Platte County both had some early season success in the Kearney Classic Track and Field Meet on April 6.
With 10 boys’ and girls’ teams competing, Platte County claimed third place out of 10 teams in both when the boys had 123 points and the girls had 100.5 points. The Park Hill South boys won the meet with 153 points and the girls finished in second place with 131.5 points – only trailing Kearney’s 196-point outing – with numerous medalists.
Platte County started the day strong with both of its 4x800-meter relay teams taking second place. Park Hill South finished in the top-4 in both before making a big impact in the individual events.
Park Hill South senior Judy Elful was the runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles when she crossed the finish line in 15 seconds. Platte County’s Ava Filger took fifth place in 17.02 seconds, while Adi Benninghoff and Heaven Jale were in the top-10.
Elful also won the 300-meter hurdles – doing so in 47.41 seconds – and Filger again ended in fifth place, this time in 50.75 seconds. Lauren Smith was right outside the top-8 for Park Hill South.
The two schools had four of the top-9 in the 100-meter dash, led by Platte County senior Hannah Mand with a second-place, 13.06 finish as her teammate Charley Sims just missed out on medaling when she claimed ninth place in 13.68 seconds. Lady Panthers Addison Grimm and Lily DiBernardo finished in seventh and eighth places, respectively.
Grimm had a higher finish in the 400-meter run, earning third place with a time of 1:04.1, joined by teammates Bayli Middleton and Kayla Canchola in the top-8. Middleton finished in 1:05.8 for sixth place and Canchola crossed the finish line in 1:06.96 to claim eighth place.
Platte County narrowly had two medalists in the 200-meter dash as Haley Barlow and Sims were in seventh and eighth places, respectively. Barlow ended in 28.04 seconds and Sims ended in 28.29 seconds.
Park Hill South had a pair of sisters own the long-distance events when freshman Madilynn Conklin won the 1,600-meter run in 5:27.25 and senior Ella Conklin won the 800-meter run in 2:34.31. Macy Strobel and Scout Colvin both medaled in the mile, while Lucy Shrawder took sixth place and Melania Puszczak took ninth place in the 800.
In the 3,200-meter run, freshman Zoe Flook earned a bronze medal with a time of 12:16.62, followed by Lauren Bishard in sixth place and Mia James in eighth place. Carmen Gentilia was the only Platte County medalist in the long-distance events as the junior claimed fifth place in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:52.12.
In the jumping events, Platte County senior Reese Pickett earned third place in the long and triple while earning second place in the high. Park Hill South Addison Bjorn cleared the 1.55-meter bar to earn a bronze medal in the high jump and took fourth place in the long jump after a leap of 1.55 meters.
Smith won the pole vault after clearing the 2.9-meter bar and she was joined by Aubrie Boehler and Claire Langer as Lady Panthers to take top-8 in the event. Platte County senior Takayla Lawson won the shot put with a heave of 10.55 meters, while Addyson Schlake earned fourth place and Joslyn Hupp took eighth place.
Schlake tossed the discus 30.75 meters to finish right ahead of Park Hill South senior Isabella Patton who claimed seventh place with a 30.48-meter throw. Reagan Kelley and Erin Stewart both ended in the top-7 of the javelin for the Lady Panthers.
The Park Hill South boys also had a strong outing in throwing events with seven medalists. Darrien Jones tossed the discus 44.92 meters to end in fourth place, finishing ahead of Kiros Martin and Harold Moore who took seventh and eighth places, respectively.
Moore finished in eighth place in the shot put – right ahead of Grant Dunaway and Martin – with a heave of 12.92 meters. Taylor Zehr and Jordan Hilsinger collected fifth and seventh places, while Platte County senior Mark Wiesehan took eighth place in the javelin.
The Panthers had three of the top-6 pole vaulters – led by winner T.J. McGhee with a vault of 4.04 meters – as Roman Lewis and Drew Franklin closed out the top-6. Pirate senior Carter Salzman finished right ahead of that duo with a fourth-place vault of 3.51 meters.
The Panthers dominated the jumping events with three triple jump medalists, two long jump medalists and one high jump medalist. Platte County senior Garrett Smith won the long with a leap of 6.22 meters.
Briggs Bartosh, Shane Smith, Charles Noland – who was filling in for Troy Mosby – and Darrien Jones were the Park Hill South lineup for the winning 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays. Platte County earned third in the 4x100 and fourth in the 4x200-meter relay.
Bartosh won the 100-meter dash in 10.96 seconds, Mosby claimed third place in 11.33 seconds and Jones was in ninth place in 11.63 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, Smith and Mosby finished in second and third places – with times of 22.75 and 22.85 seconds, respectively – and Noland took fifth place; Pirate senior Cameron Wolfe claimed seventh place in 23.7 seconds and Jordan Burnett was less than one second later to finish top-8.
Platte County had some speedsters in the 400-meter run, led by Joshua Fraker and Brayden Eschliman in fifth and sixth places, respectively. Bryan Jennings closed out the top-8 in 54.85 seconds.
Platte County sophomore Caden McGhee was the runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.75 seconds, three places and 1.39 seconds faster than Park Hill South junior Kyle Dunaway. Isaiah Seymour closed out the top-8 for the Pirates in 17.47 seconds.
McGhee and Seymour also had success in the 300-meter hurdles, earning third and eighth places, respectively. McGhee crossed the finish line in 43.59 seconds and Seymour did so in 44.45 seconds.
Platte County junior Connor Currence led the way in the first long-distance event, the 800-meter run, with a time of 2:02.13. Park Hill South had three finishers in the top-7: Dante Toapanta, Tanner Clippard and Cole James.
The Pirates had three straight finishers in the mile after Park Hill South freshman Thomas Garrett collected second place in 4:26.38. Andrew Johnson finished in 4:29.78, Kade Meinke finished in 4:44.64 and Blake Herron finished in 4:48.25.
Johnson was the first-place runner in the 2-mile with a time of 9:45.79, more than 30 seconds faster than the next runner. Grant Windmeyer – a freshman at Park Hill South – took fourth place with a time of 10:27.19 and Tanner Jenks crossed the finish line in 10:41.46 to end in sixth place for the Pirates.