The second trip to state for Tyler Stambersky came to an early and unfortunate end.
In Friday’s Class 5 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships, Platte County’s star sophomore went down on the course between the three- and four-kilometer marks on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia and could not finish the race. According to Pirates coach Courtland Ingram, Stambersky’s blood sugar dropped, resulting in the DNF.
Stambersky placed 24th the previous week in the Class 5 District 4 race to earn an individual state berth.
A streak of five straight years qualifying a team ended with Platte County bumped up in this year’s postseason assignment. Stambersky earned all-state honors as a freshman, placing 16th to help the Pirates finish 10th in the team standings.
Stambersky knew the increased difficulty in Class 5 but owns a PR of 19:28.10 as one of just eight program history to run a time under 20 minutes. She’s done so three times, including a 19:43.80 on the state course in September’s Gans Creek Classic — a mark that would have been good enough for 47th on Friday and just out of all-state placement for the top 30.
After the first kilometer, Stambersky sat in 85th, and she faded to 99th after the second and 109th after the third.
