An impressive group of seniors left their legacies on a high note at West Platte in the aftermath of this season when the Blue Jays soared to heights that hadn’t been reached in quite some time.
In the fall, the Blue Jays’ football team finished with its best winning percentage since 2010. West Platte went 8-3 – including its first 4-0 start in more than a decade – with both of its regular season losses coming against the KCI Champion Mid-Buchanan and Class 1 State Champion East Buchanan.
West Platte’s Katie Groom was the only senior on the Lady Blue Jays volleyball team that ended the fall at 18-11-1.
In the second year under Jim Newsted, the Blue Jays earned third place in the conference. The talented bunch of 12 seniors was the first group of upperclassmen to play two years under Newsted.
Since West Platte softball finished the fall of 2014 with a 20-7 record, the Lady Blue Jays have been unable to finish with more wins than losses, but that changed this season. Rattling off 14 victories opposed to seven losses gave West Platte promise for the foreseeable future.
The Lady Blue Jays also had a strong volleyball season – continuing the dominance with yet another winning season, a streak that started more than a decade ago – when they ended the fall at 18-11-1. Led by sole senior Katie Groom in the first year under Connor Kellerstrass, West Platte matched its season win total from 2020 before falling in the Class 2 District 15 Championship.
Cross-country was the only fall sport that West Platte qualified for state in, when the Blue Jays claimed sixth place led by junior Charlie Kinslow who earned seventh place with a personal best time of 16:34.10. Julia Pattison was the only Lady Blue Jay to make it to state and was half a second away from becoming a state champion, crossing the finish line 0.4 seconds slower than the first-place finisher.
In the winter, Mason Montez, Trent Taylor, Tanner Rowe, Dalton Hill, Ryan Pattison and Ty Lawson capped off their senior campaigns with a magical season on the hardwood floor. There were multiple times throughout the year that West Platte was trailing late and made plays to come out with a victory.
The Blue Jays won 20 games and lost seven, while going 2-1 in overtime games, and took second place in the KCI Conference with a 7-1 record. West Platte had its best season since 2014 and lost in the district title game after locking up the top-seed.
The West Platte girls’ basketball team had its most lucrative season of the 21st century, taking down multiple opponents for the first time in years thanks to the help of seniors Hailey Shepardson, Ashley Goodwin and Groom. The Lady Blue Jays capped off the winter with a 12-13 record and had a chance to share the conference title going into the last regular season game.
In the spring, the West Platte baseball team had five seniors and finished 9-11 after earning the No. 3 seed in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament. The West Platte track and field team qualified for 13 events at state and placed top-8 in nine of those events.