LEE’S SUMMIT, Mo. — Tyler Stambersky misjudged the approach to the finish line in the circuitous course at Lee’s Summit North High School.
Platte County sophomore Madison Fuller nears the finish line in the Class 5 District 4 meet Saturday at Lee’s Summit North High School in Lee’s Summit.
With no true margin for error, Platte County’s standout sophomore just pushed forward and didn’t let her early sprint derail an otherwise strong race in Saturday’s Class 5 District 4 meet. She ultimately finished 24th in 20 minutes, 10.51 seconds to stay comfortably within the cut for individual state qualifiers in an expectedly deep and strong field.
The top four teams automatically advanced to this week’s Class 5 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships along with any individuals in the top 30, inclusive of those from qualifying teams.
“I didn’t know that the finish was over here so I just kicked too early, but I still got it,” said Stambersky, now a two-time state qualifier after advancing an earning all-state honors as a freshman in Class 4. “But there was a little bit of doubt.”
Platte County bumped up to Class 5 for this postseason and saw a run of five straight team state berths come to an end. Stambersky led the Pirates to eighth in the final standings with a total of 194.
Blue Springs South topped the 14-team field with an impressive total of 34, putting five scoring runners in the top 12 and all seven entrants in the top 18.
Platte County entered the season with five returning state qualifiers from previous seasons but all Stambersky, senior Madelyn Stewart and sophomore Arsema Ayiche were in Saturday’s lineup. The Pirates ended up with a youthful rotation that included sophomore Madison Fuller (37th, 20:57.31) and freshman Mary Dellinger (39th, 21:03.98) also accounting for the overall score of 197 — a full 67 points back of fourth-place Liberty.
Platte County senior Madelyn Stewart runs in the Class 5 District 4 meet Saturday at Lee’s Summit North High School in Lee’s Summit.
Stewart (46th, 21:23.75) and Ayiche (48th, 21:31.38) were the Nos. 4 and 5 finishers for Platte County.
“That means that we can still carry this on, and we can work better and we can probably try to get to state next year,” Stambersky said. “And even if we can’t get the whole team, we can get some more people.”
One of only eight in program history to run a time under 20 minutes, Stambersky continued to lead Platte County as a clear-cut No. 1 but found herself in a tight early pack of runners hovering around the state cut line. She closed strong to move up multiple spots and despite going to her closing kick too early ended up more than 16 seconds clear of the 30th spot to earn a repeat bid.
Stambersky set a career-best of 19:28.10 in the season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational and saw the difference in competition level, a year after placing fourth in Class 4 District 4 and going on to earn all-state honors the following week (16th).
“We knew it was going to be fast because it was Class 5,” Stambersky said. “We knew it was going to be a flat course, so we just had to go and give it our all.
“We were just all going to try to run PRs and run for our team.”
Platte County freshman Carlie Baker (110), senior Indigo Teufel (117) and sophomore Arsema Ayiche (109) run in the Class 5 District 4 meet Saturday at Lee’s Summit North High School in Lee’s Summit.
A first-year varsity contributor for Platte County, Fuller made a big jump in an impressive district debut, going under 21 minutes for the first time in her career but ultimately being 31 seconds out of the top 30. Dellinger’s standout freshman season ended just short of posting a fourth sub-22 minute time.
Stewart added a season-best time in her final race, while Ayiche came up with a breakthrough showing and PR. She went under 22 minutes for the first time this fall and cut about 32 seconds off of the prior fastest time from her sophomore season, while senior Indigo Teufel (50th, PR of 21:32.26) and freshman Carlie Baker (65th, 22:25.92) didn’t factor into the Pirates’ team score while running at districts for the first time.
Stambersky led Platte County’s finishes in every race this season, but the other six took turns contributing to strong showings that included a third straight Suburban Conference White Division team title. Stewart and Teufel were the lone seniors in the Pirates’ district lineup, but Joanna Reil and Nora McCoy both also the season with prior state experience.
Without the top-end fire power to push for a top-four finish in Class 5 District 4, Platte County now sends Stambersky to state in the largest classification. The last runners for the Pirates to do that were Rebekah Geddes (2014-16), Jessica Clark (2016) and Taylor Giger (2019) — all three going in Class 4 before the increase to five classes in 2020 that coincided with the recent run of team state berths for the program.
