The move up to Class 2, initially, was a tough one for West Platte.

The streak of 19 straight trips to state for the boys and two in a row for the girls came to a halt after each took third place at the Class 2 District 8 meet on Saturday, Nov. 2 at Platte Ridge Park in Platte City.

Bumped up in classification earlier this season, the Bluejays put up a valiant effort in both divisions. The boys were 13 points behind Lexington for the second qualifying spot out of districts, which was won by Lawson. Lexington was a fifth-place team at state last year.

While the team success wasn’t the same as usual, West Platte still had individual success.

Phillip Pattison won the district title in 17:29.70, following in the footsteps of former teammate and multiple-time district champion Max Davies.

The top 15 runners advance to state and Pattison will be joined by two others.

Freshman Charlie Kinslow took fourth place and sophomore Ryan Pattison took eighth place.

“I could not be happier with these three as they have consistently improved all season and really pushed themselves on the course,” said West Platte coach Mike Lowe of the course the team ran two weeks ago at the West Platte Invitational/KCI Conference meet.

The girls were seven points behind Summit Christian Academy for the final spot at state. Lawson won the district title to get the sweep.

The girls will have senior Lexi Elmore and junior Bella Clark in Columbia at the MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships this weekend.

Elmore took 10th and Clark placed 12th, with a 15-second gap between the two.

Elmore was part of the state championship team in 2017 and a squad that took third last fall.