Platte County senior Tanner Jenks and Blake Herron led another side-by-side charge in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships — just from a different vantage point, as the cyclical development of the Pirates’ lineup came close to producing more hardware.
Platte County junior Donavin Ness runs in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
On a muddy and treacherous track at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Jenks and Herron repeated as all-state performers with top-10 individual finishes Saturday afternoon, and Platte County surged late to post a team score of 169. The Pirates ended up in fifth place of the final Class 4 standings and 40 behind Parkway Central for the fourth and final team trophy.
A year earlier, Jenks and Herron came in back-to-back in 22nd and 23rd with the fastest times of their careers to that point to push Platte County to a surprise second-place finish — the best team state showing from the fastest collection of runners in program history. They were the final pair of all-state finishers for the Pirates behind a pair of standout seniors.
On Saturday, Jenks (eighth) again edged his teammate Herron (ninth) at the line to continue paths of improvement in their third state meet as Platte County’s unquestioned leaders. The Pirates were second in Class 4 District 4 the previous weekend with a streak of four straight team titles coming to an end but still earning one of four qualifying spots into the state field.
Platte County led the District 4 teams and pushed into the trophy chase with help from junior Donavin Ness (40th) and junior Elijah Jackson (68th) plus an impressive state debut for freshman Landon McKinzie (75th).
Platte County junior Elijah Jackson nears the finish line in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
The adverse conditions on a rainy day mostly prevented fast times, but Platte County used late surges to move into the top five. Jenks came in at 16 minutes, 39.80 seconds with Herron just .30 of a second behind him. Jenks moved past six runners in the final 1,000 meters of the race, including Herron — up three spots in the same closing stretch.
In addition, Jackson passed eight runners, while McKinzie moved up 15 places in the same span.
The collective moves helped Platte County pass both Lincoln Prep (District 4 champion) and Smithville in the team standings. The Pirates entered the season with five runners back from last season’s record state team, but McKinzie (18:02.20), sophomore Jacobi Keith (116th, 18:37.10) and senior Ethan Smith (117th, 18:38.50) all made postseason debuts after senior and two-time qualifier Ben Letcher ended up out of the lineup due to ongoing breathing issues.
The experience at the top of Platte County’s lineup proved beneficial to the strong team showing.
Platte County freshman Landon McKinzie prepares to finish the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
The development of a trio of third-time qualifiers continued to show in the state placements over the past three seasons — Jenks 89th, 22nd and eighth in his final race; Herron 111th, 23rd and ninth; and Ness 105th, 84th and 40th in 17:16.60. Jackson came up especially clutch, and he posted a faster time at state as a junior (17:55.80) than he did as a sophomore, an uncommon outcome in the sloppy conditions. He placed 136th last year while running just 6 seconds slower, which provides some context for this year’s performances.
Platte County graduated Class 4 individual runnerup and school-record-holder Andrew Johnson and three-time qualifier Kade Meinke, who developed into a solid No. 2 and all-state runner as a senior last fall. That left openings that increased with Letcher, who finished 146th as a freshman and 134th as a junior for the Pirates, unable to finish the season.
Smith moved up after multiple years in Platte County’s junior varsity lineup and frequently provided the No. 4 scoring placement time this season before struggling in his final career race. McKinzie became one of two freshman contributors this fall, and Keith earned the No. 7 spot for districts in a strong finish down the stretch.
Platte County hopes to continue the trends that have made five straight team berths to state so productive. That means Herron leading five returning qualifiers with hopes Ness, Jackson, McKinzie, Keith and others can develop into the supporting cast needed to help push the Pirates to remain in the trophy chase next season.
