Blake Herron approached the finish line alone, pointing to his head with a smile.
Platte County senior Elijah Jackson finishes the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Thursday at Jesse James Park in Kearney.
The doubts were finally silenced, and Platte County’s senior star finally recorded the first individual victory of his career in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Thursday at Jesse James Park in Kearney. He also led the Pirates’ quartet of runners in the top six — and five in the top 12 — that delivered a second straight team title as well.
Platte County finished with a team total of 27 points with Grain Valley second at 38 and Raytown a distant third at 56.
Herron (first, 16 minutes, 50.50 seconds) and fellow senior Donavin Ness (third, 17:18.35) became four-time all-conference performers, while Platte County sophomore Landon McKinzie (fifth, 17:54.26) senior Elijah Jackson (sixth, 18:24.22) moved up from honorable mention to the second team. A year ago, the Pirates needed a confusing sixth-runner tiebreaker to hold off Grain Valley for first place. Jackson’s electronic timing chip fell off during the race, and a review of video footage eventually reversed his placement to change the outcome.
This season, Jackson turned in one of his best recent performances and fastest time this season to help give Platte County a comfortable margin of victory. He previously turned in a 17:53.80 in the Raymore-Peculiar Invitational back in mid-September and made just his third start since then.
Herron and Ness returned after sitting out the Grain Valley Sock It to Cancer Invitational. They missed for different reasons with Herron choosing to rest due to minor foot discomfort while Herron passed out and failed to finish his previous race at the Gans Creek Classic.
Platte County senior Donavin Ness runs in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Thursday at Jesse James Park in Kearney.
Platte County junior Nick Flowers rounded out Platte County’s team score, finishing 12th in 18:49.33 to earn honorable mention all-conference honors in his first White Division race. The Pirates also entered freshman Haddon Newsome (19th, 19:20.35) and junior Jacoby Keith (20th, 19:41.35) in the final race ahead of the postseason.
Herron steadily improved his White Division placements over the years, going from 12th to fourth, to third to first. Ness came in ninth as a freshman at conference then 10th as a sophomore and sixth as a junior.
Having sent a full team to state in Class 4 each of the past five years, Platte County faces a new challenge this season with Herron leading the way. He goes into Class 5 District 4 having finished in the top five in all six of his starts this season, including runnerup showings in both the Judge “Chris” Stubbs Invitational on the Pirates’ home course and the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia.
Herron set a PR of 15:36.20 at Gans Creek, which also hosts the upcoming state meets.
Platte County returns Herron, Ness, Jackson, McKinzie and Keith from last year’s Class 4 District 4 runnerup lineup. The Pirates won the team title in the four previous seasons during the strong run of success, which included a second-place state finish in 2023.
Herron and Ness have been on three straight state qualifying teams for Platte County, while Jackson emerged as a key contributor two seasons ago and has been in back-to-back seasons. The Pirates must find a way to finish in the top four of the Class 5 District 4 meet on Saturday, November 8 in Lee’s Summit to earn another berth while any individuals in the top 30, inclusive of auto qualifiers, also advance.
