The track and field postseason officially began for Platte County, Park Hill and Park Hill South which all competed in the Class 5 District 8 Meet at Staley High School on May 13.
Park Hill junior Desire Tonye-Nyemeck had a PR in the high jump, clearing the 6-06.75-foot bar to become a district champion in the event in the Class 5 District 8 Meet at Staley High School on May 13.
It was a hot and sunny day where the top-4 of each event moves on. Sectionals will be on May 20, with state being on May 26-27.
Platte County dominated in jumping on the day. Out of 10 events, the Pirates had seven PR’s, five sectional qualifiers and two district champions.
All seven jumpers in the long and triple made the finals, led by Reese Pickett. The senior was a district champion in the triple jump with a leap of 35-06.5 feet.
Pickett earned a silver medal in the high jump, clearing a height of 5-01.75 feet. She went a perfect three-for-three in qualifying for sectionals in jumping events, claiming third place in the long jump after hopping 17-04.75 feet.
Garrett Smith was the other district champion, doing so with a 22-06.5-foot-long jump. Carter Salzman pole vaulted 12-05.5 feet to become the runner-up in the event.
Addyson Schlake took fourth place in a pair of non-running events as the sophomore had a high jump of 4-11.75 feet and threw the discus 118-08 feet. TaKayla Lawson tossed the shot put 37-03 feet to earn a bronze medal.
Andrew Johnson led the way for the Pirates’ long-distance events, qualifying in the 3,200-meter run after taking second place with a time of 9:40.57. Johnson was also on the 4x800 that ended in fourth place in 8:32.
Sisely Mitchell was the last finisher in the 1,600-meter run who made it past districts, doing so with a time of 5:32.03. Mitchell was one of four Lady Pirates on the third place 4x800-meter relay that crossed the finish line in 10:00.21.
Hannah Mand took fourth place in the 100-meter dash in 12.96 seconds and Ava Filger claimed fourth place with a time of 16.65 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. The Platte County boys will be sending the 4x400 to sectionals after taking third place in 3:25.62.
Park Hill was a force to be reckoned with in the high jump, having three of the first four finishers, including a pair of personal bests. Desire Tonye-Nyemeck had a PR of 6-06.75 feet to become a district champion.
Kendrick Bell added district runner-up and a PR jump of 6-04.75 to his impressive resume. Legend Freelon had that same height, but claimed fourth place.
Jordan Smith and Jordan Rider had success in the javelin, finishing in the top-3. Smith earned a silver medal with a throw of 176-06 feet and Rider earned a bronze medal with a throw of 170-11 feet.
Rider almost made it to sectionals in the discus as he claimed sixth place after a 142-03-foot chuck. He also took eleventh place in the shot put.
Bell and Smith fell shy of continuing their seasons in the long jump, with jumps of 21-07.5 feet and 21-06.25 feet, respectively. Bell claimed fifth place, right ahead of Smith in sixth place.
Smith did quality in another event, earning fourth place in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.72 seconds. Landen Julson beat Smith by 0.02 seconds to earn a silver medal.
In the 100-meter dash, James Christopher took fourth place in 11.05 seconds. August Jones was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 49.54 seconds.
Park Hill had three relays – all but the 4x800 – compete on the day and sent them all to the next round. They all three ended in fourth place.
The Lady Trojans had the first two sprinters in the 100-meter dash with Alyssa Ball’s winning time of 12.49 seconds and Jamari Ervin finishing 0.08 seconds later. Ball became a 2-time district champion on the day in the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 25.9 seconds.
Counting the two preliminary races, Ball ran in six events on the day, qualified in four and took first place in three. She was joined by Ervin, Mackenzie Moretina and Cali Richards on the 4x100-meter relay team that won by almost an entire second, crossing the finish line in 48.84 seconds.
Park Hill didn’t have a 4x800-meter relay team but sent all three of its relays that competed to sectionals. The 4x200 claimed fourth place in 1:46.95 and the 4x400 earned a bronze medal in 4:08.53.
Moretina was close to qualifying in both hurdles but was less than half a second too slow in the 300-meters. The junior took second place in the 100-meter in 15.07 seconds and fifth place in 300-meters in 48.95 seconds.
Brooke Boehm has been a skilled jumper all spring but missed the mark of sectional qualifications in the high jump after being the runner-up in the long jump. The junior took sixth place after clearing the 4-09.75-foot-high jump bar and hopped 17-06 feet in the long jump.
Grace Hodge was the final qualifier in the pole vault, ending with a height of 9-00.25 feet to take fourth place. Natalie Gerdes has been the backbone for Park Hill’s long-distance this spring and while she fell short of sectionals, the junior ran a season-best time of 2:30.51 in the 800-meter run to take eighth place and finished sixth in the 1,600-meter run in 5:42.83.
As expected, Judy Elful brought home some hardware for Park Hill South and kept her season alive in the hurdles. The Lady Panther senior won the 100-meter with a time of 14.75 seconds and took second place in the 300-meter in 46.25 seconds.
Ella Conklin earned a bronze medal in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2:24.59. Her younger sister, Madilynn Conklin, won the 1,600-meter run in 5:30.53.
Both Conklins were on the 4x800-meter relay team that claimed first place with a time of 9:46.69. The Lady Panthers also sent their 4x400 past districts with a fourth-place finish in 4:12.27.
In her first track and field postseason, freshman Addison Bjorn became a district champion in the 400-meter dash. She completed the race in 57.93 seconds, which was 1.65 seconds faster than second place.
Bjorn was two inches short of qualifying to sectionals in the high jump. Her height of 4-09.75 feet gave her fifth place.
Lauren Smith earned a silver medal in the pole vault, clearing a height of 9-06.25 feet. Isabella Patton collected a spot in sectionals with a third-place throw of 119-07 feet in the discus.
Shane Smith is sectional bound in the 400-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 49.74 seconds to take fourth place. Troy Mosby was 0.08 seconds behind Smith but wasn’t able to claim top-4 and move on past districts.
Smith is also headed to sectionals in the 4x200-meter relay as the Panthers took second place in 1:27.3. Smith will be joined by Briggs Bartosh, Darrien Jones and Mosby.
Thomas Garrett earned a bronze medal in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:41.95. The freshman was also on the third place 4x800-meter relay team that ended in 8:20.5 to move on to sectionals.
Park Hill South had two field events get past districts, led by pole vaulting district champion T.J McGhee who ended with a height of 12.11.5 feet. Zeshaun Ballance-Gray collected fourth place in the triple jump with a hop of 44-06.75 feet.