If early-season progress continues to translate, Platte County could be in for an impressive season. The Pirates finished third in the Kearney Classic Invitational on Thursday in optimal weather conditions with seniors Hannah Mand (100-meter run), TK Lawson (shot put), and Reese Pickett (long jump); junior Carmen Gentilia (1,600-meter run) and sophomore Addy Schlake (high jump and shot put) all setting career-best marks in just the second competition of the season.
One of only a few returning state qualifiers on the roster, Mand continued a transition from relay specialist to diverse talent. She blazed to a 13.60 second finish in the 100 to finish second to Lincoln Prep’s Aniya Bird. Mand’s time was more than a half second better than her previous career best in the event.
Mand also closed the meet along with Gentilia, sophomore Maggie McBratney and freshman Charley Sims to place third in the 4×400 relay (4:22.77). Mand is the only returner from last year’s Class 5 Sectional 4 qualifying unit.
In between, Platte County used a wide variety of personal-record performances to accrue 100 1/2 points, finishing behind only champion Kearney (196) and runnerup Park Hill South (131 1/2).
Lawson led the way with an individual title in the shot put. Her winning effort of 10.55 meters not only easily bested Warrensburg junior Jordyn Tara (10.33 meters) but also smashed her previous best mark of 9.87 meters from her junior season.
Schlake maintained her diverse event list with a fourth-place finish in the shot put (career-best 9.85 meters), while also reaching her best height in the high jump to tie for fourth (1.50 meters). She also just missed a top-five showing in the discus, coming in sixth.
Pickett placed second in the high jump at 1.55 meters but added third-place finishes in the long jump (5.20 meters) and triple jump (10.68 meters). Her previous career-best in the former was 5.08 last spring, while she came up just 20 centimeters of her longest effort in the latter, set at 5.88 in the first meet of last season.
Platte County also recorded top-three finishes in the 4×800 and 4×200 relays. The long-distance team of Gentilia and fellow juniors Sisely Mitchell and Emma Reed plus freshman Addie Ayers came in second (10:31.56). Mitchell, Mand and Pickett are three of four returning state qualifiers on the roster. Mitchell continues to deal with a minor injury concern, and coaches remained cautious, scratching her from the 3,200.
The third-place 4×200 team for Platte County consisted of sophomores Haley Barlow and Maggie McBratney and freshmen Rylee Carr and Amiya Elliott. The Pirates have completely rebuilt the Class 5 state-qualifying unit from last year to this point with Mand the only returner. She ran the event in the season-opening Falcon Relays but not Thursday.
Platte County’s other top-five finishes included Gentilia in the 1,600, and her time of 5:52.12 edged out her previous career-best from her sophomore season by a little more than two seconds. Pirates junior Ava Filger neared both of her personal-records in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, placing fifth in both events. She went 17.02 in the 100s and 50.75 in the 300s.
Kearney Throwers Meet
Platte County returned to Kearney on Monday afternoon in a small meet limited to just shot put and discus after heavy rains earlier in the day led to the cancelation of the javelin.
For a third straight meet, Lawson set a PR in the shot put and placed first at 10.98 meters — 33 centimeters better than four days earlier at the same location. She led a 1-2-3 finish for Platte County in the event with Schlake in second with a career-best of 10.31 meters. Pirates senior Joslyn Hupp placed third and broke out with a season-best 10.25 meters.
There were 67 total putters in the event.
Schlake (31.55 meters) also placed fourth in the discus out out of more than 70 competitors. That distance is just more than a half meter off her career-best of 33.02 from last year’s Class 5 District 8 meet.
