Platte County’s roster includes talented and versatile pieces, and time will likely show how they fit together. Yes, the Pirates move on minus all five of the only Class 5 Missouri State Track and Field Championships medalists in program history, but reasons for optimism abound.
After moving up from Class 4 in 2022, Chandler Steinmeier made an upset run to a Sectional 4 title in the 300-meter hurdles then won his preliminary heat and nearly raced to an individual title, finishing second in his first and only state final. The Pirates also lost Trevor Scott, Cole Rhoden and Victor Sewankambo from the sixth-place 4×100 relay team. The Pirates expected Nate Walls back from that group, but he recently underwent season-ending shoulder surgery from a lingering football injury that will prevent him from running.
Walls was a two-time all-state performer, having been on Park Hill’s seventh-place 4×100 team as a sophomore.
Steinmeir returned from injury late in the year to make the most of his few races and set a career-best in the state final at 39.14, one of the top times in program history for the event. The Pirates’ 4×100 team set a school record at districts, sectionals and state, eventually leaving the mark at 42.84 after their showing in the Class 5 finals.
However, Platte County does return a pair of unique former state qualifiers in seniors Garrett Smith-Dean and Carter Salzman, while seniors Andy McClure (triple jump), Cameron Wolfe (discus), juniors Andrew Johnson (3,200) and Connor Currence (800) and sophomore Caden McGhee (hurdles) come back after strong seasons and top performances in Class 5 District 8.
The challenge will be much different again, competing in Class 5 for a second straight season and moving into the Suburban Conference White Division after finishing second in the Blue Division last year. The Pirates were sixth in District 8 and tied for 24th at state with the medals in two events.
Smith-Dean and Salzman both return as potential sprinting standouts after being in the prior state-record-setting 4×100 team as sophomores along with Scott and Sewankambo, the 2022 Class 5 District 8 open 100 champion and eventual state qualifier. Neither spent much time on track for the Pirates last year with Smith-Dean not on the roster after the early part of the season, while Salzman continues to battle hamstring issues that limited him to pole vaulting last year. He reached Sectional 4 in the event in Class 4 as a sophomore and just missed out in Class 5 after being part of a four-way tie at 3.50 meters at District 8 as a junior.
Coming off an all-state cross country season, Johnson will again be a top competitor in the 1,600 and 3,200. He ran a personal-best in the longer race at District 8 (10:10.23) but finished outside of the top four, showing the depth of talent in Class 5. He also placed second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at conference behind teammate Andrew Early, another graduated senior who went to state in the 3,200 and 4×800 relay as a junior.
In addition, Platte County juniors Kade Meinke returns in the 1,600 and 800 after serving as a freshman alternate on the Class 4 4×800 state qualifier in 2021. He enters off of a strong cross country season that saw him emerge as the Pirates’ No. 2 runner behind Johnson. Ryan McCoy, a senior, unexpectedly ran a leg at state in Class 4 on the 4×800 as a sophomore and teamed with Early, Currence and graduated senior Jace Trimble on last year’s Blue Division championship quartet.
Meinke and McCoy were second-team all-conference behind Currence in the open 800 for Platte County.
Platte County’s depth in long distance shows with Currence a potential breakout star in the 800 or 1,600 plus an interest in running the 400 and possibly 4×400. He ran limited races in his first year on the team as a sophomore and won a conference title in the 800, while also being top three in the 1,600 with Johnson and Early.
However, Platte County could also have depth in the sprints with Wolfe, also an all-conference discus thrower who finished fifth at District 8 to just miss a sectional spot with a throw of 42.44 meters (personal-best earlier in the year was 43.6), and senior Aaron Cordova on the roster. Wolfe brings a diverse skillset and emerged as one of the Pirates’ top 200 runners and advanced out of preliminaries at districts with a personal-best of 23.49 but scratched the final while dealing with a nagging hamstring injury and hoping not to expend the extra energy during overlapping discus throws. Cordova transferred back home. He didn’t run as a freshman at Platte County, spent the past two years out of district pursuing high level soccer but returned this year.
Cordova led Platte County in goals in an all-state soccer season and now could factor into the lineup anywhere between the 100 and 800. The Pirates also have seniors Gavin Jenks and Bryan Jennings back from last year’s top 4×400 relay plus sophomore Brayden Eschilman.
Platte County will also look to build on Steinmeier’s hurdles success. McGhee enjoyed a successful debut season and earned honorable mention all-conference honors in both the 300s and 110s, while his senior teammate was still out due to injury.
The biggest question marks for Platte County will be in field events behind Wolfe in discus, Salzman in pole vault and McClure in the triple jump. Sewankambo went to state in the long jump as a junior in Class 4 and made Class 5 sectionals in the same event as a standup but was the last field event state qualifier for the Pirates. McClure set a career best of 13.01 meters in triple last year and was just off of that at District 8, missing a sectional spot by about a foot with a seventh-place finish.
Platte County’s other returning all-conference finishers in field events were senior Brennan Rich and junior Kevin Taylor — both honorable mention in pole vault.
