Platte County senior Tanner Jenks turned in the best finish of his career, fellow senior Ben Letcher set a season-best in just his second race and the Pirates looked close to full strength for the first time this fall in winning the Pink Division team title of Saturday’s Sock It to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational.
Platte County senior Ben Letcher (left) and freshman Tate Stone run in the Sock It to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational on Saturday at Grain Valley North Middle School.
Jenks and juniors Blake Herron all finished in the top 12 to earn individual medals at Grain Valley North Middle School, while freshman Landon McKinzie and Ethan Smith rounded out Platte County’s team score of 51. Grain Valley finished as runnerup with a 56 followed by Kearney (59) and St. Michael the Archangel (66) in a tightly packed top four.
Grain Valley senior Landon Barnes took the individual title, but Jenks came in as runnerup at 16 minutes, 21.70 seconds. Kearney junior Isaac Smith separated him from Herron, who placed fourth (16:24.20).
Ness took the final medalist spot (12th, 17:335.30) to round out what has consistently been Platte County’s top three this season. Jenks, Herron and Ness are three of five runners back for the Pirates from last year’s Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships team runnerup.
The group also includes junior Elijah Jackson (20th, 18:14.60) and Letcher, who had run just one other race this season a month earlier. He ran 19:38.30 in the Todd Warner Kickoff Classic in early September and then bettered that time by more than 47 seconds, finishing 35th in 18:51.90 on Saturday.
Letcher ran under 18 minutes for the only time so far in his career last fall at state and also ran in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships as a freshman.
Platte County freshman Landon McKinzie runs in the Sock It to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational on Saturday at Grain Valley North Middle School.
With Jackson and Letcher rounding out the top seven, McKinzie stepped up with a career-best 17:59.50 to place 16th — one spot in front of Smith (18:07.50), who gave Platte County five in the top 20. Smith has made a significant jump from the junior varsity ranks last fall to a likely top-seven contributor for the Pirates’ stretch run.
Platte County ran a freshman and a trio of sophomores to round out the 11 entrants in the regular season meet. Tate Stone, a freshman, finished two spots behind Letcher (37th, 18:54.80), while Nick Flowers (41st, 18:59.30), Drake White (48th, 19:37.00) and Jacobi Keith (50th, 19:40.40) were also in this lineup before the Pirates ultimately trim to seven for conference and Class 4 District 4 competition.
Jenks and Herron return with all-state credentials in addition to the trio with at least one state meet under their belt.
Platte County hopes this serves as a good sign for the Suburban Conference White Division Championships scheduled for Saturday, October 19. Grain Valley unseated the Pirates on an uncharacteristic off day last season with the two teams again the likely top contenders for the team title.
