Platte County’s deep lineup of runners continue to mix and match through ups and downs with no clearly defined order even at this late juncture in the season. Finishing fourth in the Sock It to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational, the Pirates added back in seniors Brooklynne Jenni and Annabel Beeman and sophomore Thais Thompson to a list of 11 entrants in Saturday’s race at Grain Valley North Middle School.
Platte County junior Indigo Teufel (left) and senior Brooklynne Jenni run in the Sock It to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational on Saturday at Grain Valley North Middle School.
Only Jenni (26th) factored into Platte County’s team score of 81, 24 back of Pink Division champion Blue Springs (57) with Kearney second (65) and Lee’s Summit (67). However, the Pirates finished well clear of fifth-place Grain Valley and eight-place Fort Osage with those three teams among the top contenders for the Suburban Conference White Division team title in the race scheduled for Saturday, October 19.
Platte County won the White Division championship a year ago behind now-graduated senior stars Sisely Mitchell and Carmen Gentilia, who went on to collect all-state honors in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross County Championships. The Pirates returned five runners who have previously competed and state and six with postseason experience but rarely has had that entire group available this season.
That trend continued Saturday with senior Madison Palmer and junior Joanna Reil not competing. Both have run in two state meets with Palmer a three-time qualifier who didn’t compete as a sophomore due to illness.
Platte County freshman Tyler Stambersky again led the Pirates’ finishers in what has become a regular occurrence this season. She placed fifth in 20 minutes, 40.80 seconds as the top White Division runner in the field.
Platte County junior Nora McCoy runs in the Sock It to Cancer Grain Valley Invitational on Saturday at Grain Valley North Middle School.
In addition, Platte County senior Maddie Nichols continued a strong first season for the Pirates, finishing 10th and earning a medal (21:41.30). Neither were a part of last year’s conference, Class 4 District 4 or state lineups.
Maddie Stewart, a junior, started the postseason in Platte County’s top seven a year ago but didn’t finish the district race and then missed state. She placed 19th on Saturday in 22:29.70, while Jenni (season-best 22:44.70) and freshman Arsema Ayiche (28th, 22:51.00) rounded out the Pirates’ team score.
A returning state qualifier, Jenni ran her third race of the season and first since mid-September.
Platte County junior Indigo Teufel (30th, 22:55.70) continued a strong run of finishes that put her in the mix to be a part of conference and postseason lineups, while junior Nora McCoy (36th, 23:31.40) continues to seek the form she showed last fall as a debuting long-distance runner that eventually put her on the Pirates’ fourth straight state qualifying team.
Thompson (39th, 23:44.80) ran for just the second time this season, while Beeman (43rd, 24:00.90) — a state runner as a sophomore and alternate her other two seasons — and fellow senior Alexia Myer (47th, 25:20.80) also competed for Platte County. Beeman ran varsity for the first time this season, while Myer continued to fluctuations that have also included being a point-scoring performer for the Pirates in other races.
