Platte County ended up in a situation where every runner mattered, regardless of contribution to the point total in Thursday’s home meet at Platte Ridge Park. The Pirates ended up with the team title of the Judge “Chris” Stubbs Invitational but only after finishing deadlocked with Park Hill South.
Platte County sophomore Tyler Stambersky runs in the Judge “Chris” Stubbs Invitational on Thursday at Platte Ridge Park.
In a unique scenario, Platte County senior Indigo Teufel finished in 18th, just steps behind two teammates, but ended up as the tiebreaker.
Park Hill South only entered the five runners necessary to post a team score in the weekday morning race, making the actual order of finish for the Pirates’ final three runners irrelevant when the two teams totaled matching team scores of 33. The Panthers put four in the top 12, but junior No. 5 Maya Roe was all the way back in 24th, and even with a sixth entrant would have still been second.
Platte County sophomore Tyler Stambersky came in second at 20 minutes, 40.7 seconds, and freshman Mary Dellinger (sixth, 21:36.7) and senior Maddie Stewart (eighth, 21:49.0) were also medalists for the Pirates. With sophomore Arsema Ayiche unavailable to race, the final three finishers were all in order with freshman Carlie Baker 16th (23:19.3), sophomore Madison Fuller 17th (23:34.2) and Teufel 18th (23:35.7). Teufel’s placement didn’t end up factoring into the team total but still ended up the differentiator in the seven-team field.
A year ago, excessive heat forced the cancelation of the Chris Stubbs Invitational, but Platte County has now captured the team title twice in a row, also doing so in 2023. The Pirates also had the past two individual champions, as well, with Sisely Mitchell — currently running collegiately at Division II Rogers State — winning the race in 2022 and 2023, and Stambersky, who has not run under 20 minutes since the season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational in Liberty, just missed adding to that track record after finishing a little more than 21 seconds behind Park Hill South senior Madilynn Conklin (20:19.2).
Seemingly annual concerns over weather led Platte County to move the start time up to the mid-week event, and inclement weather threatened this year’s edition, as well. A light rain fell during the majority of the race. Stewart posted a season-best in just her second start with the Pirates coming closer to settling on a seven-runner lineup that typically includes Ayiche.
Stambersky, Stewart and Ayiche all have returning state experience, and with a contingent runners jockeying for position behind the top seven, Platte County entered the majority in the junior varsity race. That group includes seniors Joanna Reil and Nora McCoy, who round out the Pirates’ five returners having been on an at least one postseason roster during their career.
