The proverbial baton at the top of Platte County’s lineup passes down again this season with junior Andrew Johnson seemingly the capable and ready hand to assume the top spot in the lineup.
From off the radar to start his freshman season to a two-time state qualifier, Johnson ended last season as the clear No. 2 between two standout seniors who were key cogs in back-to-back team qualifications for the Class 4 Missouri State Cross Country Championships. The Pirates also finished first in each of the past two Suburban Conference Blue Division Championships, although a disqualification due to a coach’s error in 2020 kept them from back-to-back titles.
Platte County will have to replace senior Andrew Early, who signed to continue his distance running career at Pittsburg State, and the competitive leadership of Jace Trimble, but expectations will again be high for the developing supporting cast that pushed the Pirates to the conference title, a second straight Class 4 District 8 championship and a ninth-place team finish at state. In addition to Andrew Johnson, seniors Kage Audas and Tanner Johnson plus junior Kade Meinke and sophomore Ben Letcher return with state experience.
In fact, all seven of Platte County’s runners posted career-best times last year at state in the fastest collective team effort in program history. Early came up with the second-fastest state time ever for the Pirates to place 27th at 16 minutes, 8.8 seconds, while Andrew Johnson came in 32nd with a the first sub-17 minute race of his career at 16:23.90, the third fastest time ever. Trimble was No. 3 in the lineup, also under 17 minutes, in 50th place.
The conditions were fast, and Platte County actually finished a spot lower than Blake Bjustrom-led eighth-place showing in 2020 when the Pirates went to state for the first time since 2013.
Now with back-to-back district titles, Platte County will have a chance to make it three straight. Audas (96th, 17:34.7) and Meinke (97th, 17:34.9) came in right next to each other to round out the team score at state, while Tanner Johnson (121st, 17:54.7) and Letcher (146th, 18:25.3) also made their state debuts. Meinke in particular passed 20 runners in the final 1,000 meters to nearly clip his teammate at the line.
Andrew Johnson was 68th in a state debut as a freshman and will be the only runner with multiple state trips to his credit. He missed all-state honors by just seven spots in 2021 and will now have a chance to become the first to earn that accolade since Nathan Straubel in 2014.
Platte County showed depth last year before settling on the postseason lineup, and senior Aspen Nelson also boasts significant previous varsity experience. Audas ran most of his sophomore season in the top seven but missed the postseason due to COVID-19 protocols. Meinke and Letcher were first-year runners for the Pirates, while Tanner Johnson earned his spot late in the year, passing up senior Anthony Talley — a part of the 2020 district championship team and a returning state qualifier.
Outside of the eight with significant varsity experience, Platte County also returns top junior varsity performers in junior Scott Sellers and senior Mason McBratney.
In addition to the postseason success, Andrew Johnson was the Blue Division runnerup to Early, while Audas, Meinke and Tanner Johnson came in bunched at 10-11-12 for Platte County, which edged Smithville by just one point for the team title there and then by two points in the district standings before making it four points in front of the Warriors at state. The Pirates this year move up the White Division with Belton, Grain Valley, Raytown and William Chrisman.
Platte County edged Smithville by just four points for the ninth-place spot. after topping the Warriors by one for the conference title and two for the District 4 title prior to state. The Pirates were just 35 points out of the top five.
