KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Platte County didn’t quite have enough to push for the Class 4 District 4 championship, even with two of the top three runners and another breakout performance from junior Madison Palmer.
Platte County senior Carmen Gentilia runs in the Class 4 District 4 race Saturday at Staley High School in Kansas City.
Kearney bunched six finishers in the top 12 with the five factoring into the team score coming in sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th. The Bulldogs posted a score of 39 to take the title on a sunny Saturday morning at Staley High School.
Platte County seniors Sisely Mitchell (second) and Carmen Gentilia (third) were back-to-back behind breakaway winner Kayleigh Norris, a junior from Harrisonville who finished in 18:17.81. However, the Pirates ended up 14 points back of Kearney with Palmer (13th) and sophomores Nora McCoy (19th) and Joanna Reil (21st) rounding out the team score and easily earning the Pirates one of four automatic team berths to this week’s Class 4 Missouri State Cross Country Championships.
“We kind of went with the mindset that we’ve never run here before, so whatever we do, as long as it’s our best, that’s all we want to happen,” said Palmer, who finished in 21:51.77 — the second-best time of her career. “We don’t really care about the time as long as we can push ourselves to make it to state.”
In the first meet since breaking the school record in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships, Mitchell came in at 19:13.26, while Gentilia set a PR at 19:29.78 — her third straight finish of under 20 minutes and just the fourth of her career. Palmer and McCoy also ran the fastest times of their career at conference, and the momentum carried over.
Platte County junior Madison Palmer runs in the Class 4 District 4 race Saturday at Staley High School in Kansas City.
In fact, Mitchell led Norris around the 1-mile mark but eventually settled into a familiar pace and didn’t push to challenge the mark of 18:28.50 two weeks earlier to break Rebekah Geddes’ 2105 mark that had been the fastest in Platte County history for the better part of a decade. Mitchell has run under 19 minutes three times in her career, and two of them came int he two races prior to districts.
Already a two-time all-state performer, Mitchell now leads Platte County into a fourth straight team state appearance looking to finish closer to or better than the eighth-place showing in 2020 after going 14th in 2022 and 13th in 2021, while Gentilia continues to fully realize the potential shown throughout an accomplished career.
“(Sisely and Carmen) are the most amazing people you can run with,” Palmer said. “Not only do you want to be as good as them, but they’re also very (uplifting). They’re definitely encouraging. They’re very humble about their successes.”
Platte County entered the season with seven runners boasting prior state experience, but senior Marissa Orellana (two-time qualifier) and junior Annabel Beeman (2021 alternate and 2022 qualifier) did not make the top seven for districts.
Platte County sophomore Nora McCoy runs in the Class 4 District 4 race Saturday at Staley High School in Kansas City.
Instead, McCoy — a breakout performer as a sophomore debutant — and sophomore Madelyn Stewart earned spots. However, Jenni did not finish Saturday’s race after appearing to experience dizziness near the halfway point and coaches opting to pull her off. The Pirates can reconfigure the lineup this week with the top five plus senior Alex Beeman (28th, 23:06.24) seemingly set.
While Mitchell and Gentilia give Platte County two bonafide all-state contenders, Palmer came back from a midseason hip injury to turn in back-to-back complementary performances to lift the Pirates to the Suburban Conference title and runnerup showing at districts.
“In workouts, I’ve been able to hang with Carmen more, and it makes you feel better about yourself,” Palmer said. “I was scared I wasn’t going to be where I’m at right now.”
Gentilia becomes the only four-time qualifier in the group, having placed 46th as a freshman before injuries hampered her sophomore season. She fought back to make the postseason roster in 2021 but took a step back in state finish (56th) before coming up just short of all-state honors as a junior (30th).
In 2020, Gentilia and Lydia Doole qualified as individuals along with three seniors to give Platte County a non-automatic team berth. The Pirates did not have a senior in the lineup at any point the next two seasons, and Doole did not return to the team after her state run as a freshman.
Platte County sophomore Joanna Reil runs in the Class 4 District 4 race Saturday at Staley High School in Kansas City.
Mitchell gave up volleyball and ice hockey to focus on long-distance running as a sophomore and became a breakout star for Platte County. She quickly became the sixth in program history to run sub-20 minutes, and in this year’s season-opener, Gentilia joined her as the seventh runner in the exclusive club.
In two previous state runs, Mitchell was 11th as a sophomore and 12th last year.
Alex Beeman set a PR at state as a sophomore that still stands while finishing 106th and was 142nd last year while dealing with a nagging ankle injury. She has still yet to fully regain form but provides valuable leadership and experience.
While McCoy will and Stewart and junior Brooklynne Jenni could make state debuts, Palmer ran as a freshman (144th) but missed last year’s race due to illness, opening the door for Reil to fill a spot. She placed 146th then set her PR in this year’s season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational with the only sub-22 minute time of her career.
Orellana (134th in 2022 and 132nd in 2021) and Annabel Beeman (143rd as a sophomore) will be alternates this week with past state finishes to their credit.
