Platte County’s chase for the first state medal in Class 5 continues this season. For the third straight season, the Pirates have been put with the other largest schools in the state and have developed an understanding of what’s required just to reach the MSHSAA State Track and Field Championships at that level.
Five athletes qualified out of Class 5 Sectional 4 last year, none with more experience than senior Sisely Mitchell — a medalist in Class 4 as a freshman. She leads Platte County’s returning group of 4×800-meter relay state runners that also included fellow senior Carmen Gentilia, junior Madison Palmer and freshman Addie Ayers. In addition, Pirates versatile junior Addy Schlake (discus) also made her state debut last year.
Mitchell — lead runner for the 4×800 — qualified in Class 5 as a sophomore in both the 1,600 (16th) and 3,200 (13th) but also earned a spot in the 4×800 as a freshman, running the second leg for Platte County’s fifth-place team in Class 4. She brings the only link back to that quartet but found success last year with a retooled lineup that cut almost 30 seconds off the season-best in impressive runs at the District 8 and Sectional 4 meets.
Mitchell, Gentilia, Palmer and Ayers placed Platte County 13th at state in 10 minutes, 8.40 seconds. Mitchell became the key opening leg for Platte County, and Gentilia’s late sprint at Sectional 4 helped the Pirates claim fourth to advance with a season-best of 9:51.65 — the third-best time in program history.
However, a school record and another 10-second drop ended up needed to make the top eight in Class 5.
After enduring a hip injury early in the year, Mitchell never regained her top individual form. As a sophomore, she won District 8 titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 and placed seventh in last year’s at Sectional 4 in the 1,600. Platte County also benefitted from Gentilia opting out of soccer midway through this season to focus on distance running, while Ayers and Palmer earned roles as the group gelled late in the season.
Schlake brings Platte County’s only other returning individual state experience. She now ranks No. 2 on the program’s individual record list for the discus throw after setting personal-bests at both districts (36.17 meters) and sectionals (36.80 meters), placing fourth to take the last sectional spot and then moving to third the following weekend.
Also a sectional qualifier in the high jump, Schlake placed 12th in state preliminaries and did not qualify for the finals. Her personal-best would have ranked sixth in the state field, showing her potential to reach the medal stand as a junior.
Platte County must replace a pair of individual state qualifiers in Reese Pickett, one of the most accomplished jumpers in program history, and TK Lawson, who earned her first and only trip in the shot put last spring.
Pickett became the first in program history to qualify for state in the triple jump, long jump and high jump — boys or girls — in the same season. She made her second appearance in each but ended her career with just one medal.
Last spring, Pickett ended up 11th in Friday’s triple jump preliminaries then wound up ninth and one spot off the podium in Saturday’s long jump and tied for 10th in the high jump to conclude her career. She went to state in the long jump and high jump in 2021 and the triple jump as a junior. Her only medal came when she placed fifth in high jump two years earlier at the Class 4 level, but she also broke the school record in the triple jump multiple times last year (11.23)
Due to COVID-19, last year’s seniors only competed for three years.
In addition to Lawson (13th in state preliminaries), Platte County also graduated standout sprinter Hannah Mand — a sectional qualifier in the 100 and Class 4 state qualifier as a sophomore and Class 5 as a junior in state relays. The Pirates bring a lot of other important pieces back for a group that finished fourth at District 8 and captured a second conference title in two years. The Pirates won the Suburban Conference Blue Division title in 2021 and claimed the White Division for the first time last season.
While Mand ran on three of Platte County’s four relays, the 4×100 team that set a school record (50.50) also included sophomores Rylee Carr and Charley Sims, who were also on a 4×200 that just missed qualifying for sectionals. Sims, Palmer and senior Ava Filger were also on the 4×400.
Filger qualified for Sectional 4 in the 100 hurdles.
Platte County also returns sophomore Adi Benninghoff, who showed flashes in both hurdle events as a developing freshman, juniors Chloe Pegler (high jump) and Payton Stadel (jumps, hurdles, sprints and middle distance) and senior Emma Reed (middle distance). The Pirates have a deep roster and enough pieces to make a run at the fourth conference title in program history but plenty of unknowns for the third postseason push in Class 5.
