The Panthers and Blue Jays ran against bigger schools in their most recent race together with West Platte finishing in fifth place and North Platte ending in sixth place.
West Platted ended with 158 points, which was 1 point behind fourth place Kearney, and North Platte finished with 217 points. The Blue Jays were without their top runner, Charlie Kinslow, when the West Platte boys’ cross-country team competed at Kearney on Oct. 9, and younger runners stepped up.
The Blue Jays’ top-3 finishers all ended the 5K in less than 19:00 and five runners ended with a new personal best time. West Platte freshman Jonah McGivern ended in 25th place out of 135 total runners when the Blue Jay finished with a time of 18:39.
Ryan Pattison was four spots back and crossed the finish line with a time of 18:48. Tristan Newkirk set a new PR when the junior ended with an 18:54 time, earning a 30th place finish.
Hutch Bartee tied his PR at 20:09 with Isaac Helmich running in a time of 20:23. Thomas Deffet beat his previous best time by 11 seconds when he ended in 21:21, while Wyatt Scheinbaum and Lawson Scheinbaum both set PRs as well.
For the Panthers, Noah Heckman was the top-finisher as the sophomore ended in 14th place overall with a time of 17:36. Josh Schaffart wasn’t too far behind when the junior finished in 18:30 in 23rd place.
Three Panthers finished from 80th place to 83rd place led by Corbin Britting with a time of 21:16. Gabriel Goodlet ended with a 21:30 time and Wyatt Stapleton finished in 21:40.
Waylan McCracken and Wesley Meadows were the last two North Platte runners to cross the finish line. North Platte and West Platte will both be back at it in the KCI Conference Meet at Platte Ridge Park on Oct. 23.