The West Platte boys’ track and field team stands at the center of the football field at Jefferson City High School after tying for third place in the Class 2 State Meet.
Ending the school year with some state hardware is never a bad thing and that’s exactly what happened to the West Platte boys’ track and field team this spring.
Lacking a top-4 finish at state as a team in nearly a decade, it was a pleasant surprise for West Platte to tie for third place at the Class 2 State Meet. Only four teams get to walk away with all-state honors and the Blue Jays put themselves in good position after opening day tied in third place.
Charlie Kinslow was responsible for all 14 points for his team on day one, taking second place in the mile and third place in the 800-meter run, with both races having career best times for the senior. He crossed the finish line in times of 4:22.23 and 1:58.74, respectively.
The long-distance star was the anchor of the 4x800-meter relay – the first event on the second day – alongside Jonah McGivern, Tristan Newkirk and Alex Kinslow. Three of the four ran career best 800 times to take fourth place in 8:23.44.
August Hill took third place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.21 seconds before being on the fourth place 4x200-meter relay team. McGivern, Will Shafer and Dominic Williams were the other Blue Jays in the relay that crossed the finish line in 1:31.72.
West Platte only had one more event on the day, the 4x100-meter relay, where the team earned a bronze medal and was in first place in Class 2. Colton Depetre, Williams, Hill and Shafer assembled that relay and ended in 44.36 seconds, so West Platte had to sit around and watch two teams score more points before ending with a tie with Christian with 38 points.
The West Platte girls had three events earn medals at state, all of which were relays. Blair McHenry, Maddison McMillan, Julia Pattison and Avery Holmes were on the fifth place 4x800-meter relay team.
That relay was the first non-field event at state track. Holmes also competed in the open 800 but was 2.46 seconds away from a top-8 finish and all-state honors.
The Lady Blue Jays’ 4x100-meter relay team of Hailey Peters, Sophie Grier, Ahlanna Rutherford and Sam Baker ended in sixth place with a time of 51.03 seconds. In the 4x400-meter relay, McHenry, Holmes, McMillan and Baker took fourth place in 4:13.07.
In the baseball season, West Platte had a similar spring to 2022 with the same number of wins and one more loss. The Blue Jays had a solid start, winning four of the first six before going 4-9 the rest of the regular season.
West Platte opened up the postseason with a 5-1 win over Carrollton in the Class 2 District 15 Tournament before being eliminated in the semifinals with a 7-2 loss to Plattsburg. The Blue Jays will have to replace seniors Xavier Reynolds, Ezra Stigman, Crystian Resch and Ismael Chimbo-Martinez.