Even with a key member of the team noticeably not at full strength, Platte County nearly found a way to repeat at the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on the campus of Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Platte County runners (from left) sophomore Blake Herron, senior Kade Meinke and junior Tanner Jenks run in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Saturday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Grain Valley and the Pirates accounted for the top 10 finishers out of 34 total runners, and the final numbers showed the Eagles a single point in front to earn the team title. On most days, the outcome likely would have been different between the runaway top contenders.
Platte County senior Andrew Johnson did earn a repeat individual title and won his fifth race in seven starts this season. He came across the line in 15 minutes, 11.80 seconds and just missed his PR of 15:05.60 from the season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational — the first of four straight victories for the breakout star No. 1 and contender to win the Class 4 MSHSAA State Cross Country Championships.
Johnson finished second to Lincoln Prep senior Isaac Rivera three weeks ago at the Gans Creek Classic and then placed eighth at the multi-state Chile Pepper Festival in Arkansas on September 30. Rivera, another Class 4 state contender, also won that race.
However, Platte County had been heavy in training mode and has now started to taper the number of miles looking to produce top results down the stretch. Conference offered that first opportunity after a two-week break, and a majority of the Pirates’ seven runners took advantage.
The obvious outlier ended up being senior Kade Meinke, who battled illness on Saturday and faded to eight overall (16:57.40). He finished fourth as a junior and 11th as a sophomore in the Blue Division race.
Platte County sophomore Donavin Ness runs in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on Saturday at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Consistently a top performer and Platte County’s No. 2 finisher in every other race this season, Meinke seemed a likely candidate to finish second overall to Johnson. Instead, Grain Valley had the second- and third-place runners, while sophomore Blake Herron (fourth, 16:38.80) and junior Tanner Jenks (fifth, 16:42.80) were the first Pirates to come in after Johnson.
Herron and Jenks set impressive PRs in the process, and both broke 17 minutes for the first time in their careers.
Having consistently been Platte County’s No. 3 in recent races, Herron’s previous career-best of 17:06.90 came in the Chile Pepper Festival. Jenks, who battled injury in the middle of the season ran his fastest at the Raymore-Peculiar Invitational (17:08.70).
Meinke’s gutsy eighth-place finish kept Platte County close, and sophomore Donavin Ness came in just 2 1/2 seconds behind ninth-place Tyler Melton of Grain Valley. Ness’ 10th-place showing in 17:12.70 resulted in another PR, and he broke 18 minutes for just the third time in his career — first since going 17:28.90 in the Tim Nixon Invitational.
In fact, Platte County junior Ben Letcher (13th, 18:03.50) also posted a career-best time but didn’t factor into the team scoring, while sophomore Elijah Jackson rounded out the Pirates’ seven runners with a 23rd-place showing (19:16.80). Jackson ran his third-fastest time of the season.
Johnson, who started his career well out of the varsity lineup, now leads Platte County in search of a fourth straight team berth to Class 4 state. He has qualified each of the past three years and earned all-state honors as a junior. With Johnson going up a level again this year, the Pirates hope that Meinke — a third-year runner — will be at full strength and help lead another postseason run and hopefully a jump up toward the top five as a team at state.
Class 4 District 4 is scheduled for Saturday, October 28 in Kansas City.
