After soaring all the way to Jefferson City High School for the Class 2 State Track and Field Meet, the Blue Jays made nine trips to the podium on May 21.
West Platte’s Libby Vandel hands the baton to Hailey Peters, above right, in the 4x200-meter relay team that finished in third place with a time of 1:49.53 on May 21.
The West Platte girls finished slightly higher than the boys when the Lady Blue Jays claimed eleventh place with 21 points. Hailey Peters and Sam Baker both finished in fifth place in individual events and the Lady Blue Jays had all three of their relays finish in the top-6.
The Lady Blue Jays’ best relay was the 4x200 that ended with a bronze medal with a time of 1:49.53 after West Platte collected fifth place in the 4x800 in 10:16.39. West Platte’s 4x400-meter relay was the last team to make it out of prelims on opening day, and then ended in sixth place in 4:21.07 on finals’ day.
Laura Hill was the first West Platte athlete who competed at state track when the junior pole vaulted 8-11 feet on the first morning of events. Hill didn’t quite make it to the podium – as only the top-8 finishers in each event earn that privilege – when she took tenth place.
The West Platte boys’ 4x100-meter relay team re-broke its own record once again in the prelims, finishing in first place in 43.54 seconds. The Blue Jays were a bit slower in the final race, crossing the finish line in 43.98 seconds and claiming fourth place.
The Blue Jays earned their first points of the state meet in the 4x800-meter relay when West Platte went to the sixth-place spot on the podium after ending in 8:29.18. Charlie Kinslow took third place in the 800-meter run and seventh place in the 1,600-meter run.
Chad Fowles didn’t make it out of the prelims in the 100-meter dash, finishing in tenth place in 11.38 seconds. The Blue Jays closed out the season with a 14th place finish at state with 16 points.