Minus a key member of the lineup due to illness, Platte County faded to 13th out of 16 teams in Saturday’s Todd Warner Kickoff Classic at Staley High School in Kansas City. The Pirates were able to use the second meet of the season to continue looking at the depth needed to replace two all-state runners from last season — one the best long-distance runner in program history.
Platte County junior Elijah Jackson runs in the Todd Warner Kickoff Classic on Saturday at Staley High School in Kansas City.
Platte County junior Blake Herron again led the finishers, placing 22nd in 16 minutes, 27.10 seconds — about 15 seconds off of his season-opening mark on a fast course in the Tim Nixon Invitational. Herron and senior Tanner Jenks both return for the Pirates with all-state credentials, but the latter missed this race, opening up another slot.
For the second straight week, the race allowed for 10 runners rather than the traditional seven.
With Jenks out, Platte County juniors Donavin Ness (52nd, season-best 17:19.50) and Elijah Jackson (75th, 17:46.20), senior Ethan Smith (82nd, 17:56.10) and freshman Tate Stone (116th, 18:51.50) rounded out the team scoring. Ness and Jackson also return from last year’s state qualifying team that posted a program-best second-place finish in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships. However, the Pirates have also been without senior Ben Letcher for the first two weeks.
Jackson broke 18 minutes for the first time in his career, as did Smith after running JV as a junior, and bettered his prior mark of 18:01.50 from last year’s state meet.
In addition to Smith and Stone, Platte County sophomore Nicholas Flowers (123rd), freshman Landon McKinzie (124th), sophomore Drake White (127th), sophomore Gio Cucchiara (128th) and junior Jack Shroyer (130th) gained valuable experience in a 132-runner field from teams on both sides of the state line. Far from the envisioned full strength, the Pirates ended up with a team score of 324 — just 29 back of Park Hill in 11th.
Platte County graduated school-record holder Andrew Johnson and Kade Meinke from the top two spots in last year’s lineup, the fastest collection of runners in program history. The Pirates have potential to field the other five qualifiers plus two new contributors at some point while seeking to regain the Suburban Conference White Division title after finishing second to Grain Valley in 2023 and earn a fifth straight team berth out of Class 4 District 4.
