LIBERTY, Mo. — Even minus a few expected standout pieces, Platte County managed to cobble together a quartet of runners to turn in a solid debut in the 4×400-meter relay during the Ron Ives Invitational on Friday night at Liberty High School.
Platte County sophomore Braiden Stevens prepares to make a handoff in the 4×100-meter relay during the Ron Ives Invitational on Friday at Liberty High School in Liberty.
The majority of a school-record-setting unit returns this year, but only juniors Josh Fraker and Brayden Eschliman were available for the season-opening meet. The Pirates put in freshman Jack Johnson and senior Kade Meinke for the closing event and finished fifth in 3 minutes, 35.77 seconds.
Fraker and Eschliman ran two strong opening legs after not competing in the open 400, while Meinke took the baton from Johnson for the anchor lap, his first leg of the 4×400 since his freshman year.
A year earlier, Fraker and Eschliman ran the same spots with sophomore Jackson Goodale earning the No. 4 spot during a standout freshman season. Platte County’s group that also included graduated senior Aaron Cordova set the school record in the Class 5 Sectional 4 meet to qualify for state at 3:23.95 but had not run faster than 3:31.73 prior to the postseason. The Pirates were only about 4 seconds off the 2023 regular season best on Friday despite extremely cold and windy conditions plus the absences.
Platte County expects senior Connor Currence to return after missing most of last spring due to a stress fracture in his foot with a chance to have a spot. Both Goodale and Currence plus sophomore sprinter Adam Gisler were not available for the Ron Ives Invitational.
Platte County senior Kade Meinke runs in the 3,200-meter race during the Ron Ives Invitational on Friday at Liberty High School in Liberty.
Minus those contributors, Platte County scored 39 team points and tied with Grandview for 10th in a strong 17-team field. The Pirates’ 4×200 (Eschliman, Fraker and sophomores Adeboye Akande and Braiden Stevens) finished fourth to make the medal stand (1:35.51) and 4×800 (Meinke, senior Andrew Johnson, junior Tanner Jenks and sophomore Blake Herron) came in fifth (8:40.49) using lineups that could be bolstered when all options are available.
In addition to the relay showings, Meinke set a personal best in the 1,600 at 4:39.52 and claimed the fourth-place medal in an impressive showing. He hung with a top-tier lead pack and was less than 4 seconds off of third place to start what he hopes will be a breakout individual season after continually ascending in both cross country and track the past three years.
Stevens debuted with a PR of 11.23 in the open 100 and placed sixth after not running track as a freshman.
Johnson turned in Platte County’s best finish in highly competitive 3,200 race with an exciting finish. He went to the front early but eventually let Liberty senior Peyton Wilbanks take the lead, which he slowly stretched out.
In the final lap, Johnson turned in a late kick and early closed a sizable gap in the final 100 meters. Wilbanks finished first in 9:34.46 with Johnson just behind in 9:34.90. He set Platte County’s school record at 9:18.79 to beat Wilbanks in last year’s Class 5 Sectional 4 race before both earned all-state honors the following weekend.
Platte County’s lone top-four performance in field events came from Stevens in the long jump (6.28 meters). His debut put him 0.10 of a meter out of second place with 32 total entries into that event.
