Platte County places 4th at Darwin Rold Invitational as record chases continue

Platte County’s depth and record-setting potential remained on display in Friday’s Darwin Rold Invitational on Friday at Lee’s Summit High School. The Pirates finished fourth as a team with senior Josh Fraker and juniors Cale Buntz, Ty Christopher and Jackson Goodale all providing career-best performances plus all four relays showing encouraging early-season form.

Fraker (800-meter run) and Christopher (200-meter dash) both recorded individual wins along with contributions to Platte County’s victory in the 4×200-meter relay, which recorded the third-fastest time in program history in just the second meet this spring.

A standout at multiple distances, Fraker continued a strong progression in the 800, going to the front after sitting in third place after the first of two laps. He pulled away in the second half of the race to win by about 40 meters.

The timing system initially provided incorrect results, but ultimately, Fraker ended up credited with a finish of 1 minute, 58.40 seconds — more than 4 1/2 seconds in front of runnerup Luke Spilles, a sophomore from Liberty. Fraker posted the No. 7 time in Platte County’s program history according to available records, which still show less than 20 sub-2-minute times.

The results came despite gusting windy conditions, and Fraker can now chase the school record Connor Currence set just last year at 1:55.59.

Christopher set a personal-best in the 200, an event that took place later in the evening as temperatures dropped. He finished in 23.01 with a pair of Lee’s Summit runners coming in behind him.

Already an established sprinter, Christopher could eventually stretch out even further and add to Platte County’s depth in the 400. Goodale ran the open one-lap race for the first time this season and posted a career-best 50.71 to finish second behind Francis Howell senior Reid Williams (49.63).

This came a week after Fraker ran the fifth-fastest 40 in Platte County history at 49.44, and Goodale now ranks in the top 20. He broke into the Pirates’ lineup as a surprising breakout freshman but almost exclusively contributed in the 4×400 relay late last spring after a lingering leg injury kept him out for an extended period of time.

Right now, the biggest challenge appears to be maximizing the talent both individually and collectively, especially with relay lineups.

Platte County’s 4×200 of Fraker, Goodale, Christopher and junior Braiden Stevens won Friday’s race in 1:28.90 — impressively coming in almost 2 full seconds in front of runnerup Francis Howell. This marked the third-fastest time in program history and the best for the Pirates since a historic group in 2012 that produced a Class 3 state runnerup finish on the strength of a strong group of sprinters.

The current school record of 1:28.41 came in a Class 3 Sectional 4 victory for Jaron Rollins, Naron Rollins, Ben Matthews and JT Taylor. Notably, Naron Rollins also holds seemingly untouchable marks at Platte County in the 100 (10.52), 200 (21.12) and 400 (47.85).

Platte County juniors Adam Gisler, Adeboye Akande, Stevens and Christopher set the school record in the 4×100 at the Class 5 Sectional 4 meet last season at 42.56 and nearly broke that mark in the season-opening Ron Ives Invitational. With Akande out of the lineup on Friday, Gisler, Stevens, Christopher and sophomore Noah Omoike set a season-best at 42.57, now the second-fastest time in program history.

Fraker and junior Blake Herron ran on a 4×800 that nearly set Platte County’s school record multiple times in 2024. The Pirates currently only have Herron back on the unit but paired him with senior Ethan Smith, junior Eli Jackson and sophomore Nick Flowers on Friday for a third-place finish at 8:32.45.

While not currently on the same pace as last season, Platte County continues to assess options and could at some point add Fraker back, depending on how other units shake out.

On Friday, Fraker and Goodale anchored the 4×400 team along with sophomores Nick Fetterman and Omoike to a fourth-place finish (3:28.44). The Pirates also expect sophomore Jack Johnson to return soon after recently undergoing a minor surgical procedure to repair a shoulder injury from the fall.

Last season, Fraker, Goodale, senior Brayden Eschliman and Currence set Platte County’s 4×400 school record multiple times in the postseason, culminating with a 3:17.88 in the state preliminaries and then finishing as runnerup in the finals. However, Currence graduated, and Eschliman will miss the entire season after suffering a torn ACL in the fall.

Johnson spent much of last season on Platte County’s 4×400 while Goodale missed time due to the abductor injury. His return should bolster the Pirates’ lineup with Fetterman, Omoike and Christopher among those with a chance to help round out the group.

The individual track finishes and strong relay performances helped Platte County accrue 75 points in the Darwin Rold Invitational, but the Pirates didn’t have enough field contributions to push the top two teams — Lee’s Summit North (124) and Lee’s Summit (107). Liberty North (77) finished third.

However, Buntz won the javelin despite throwing in the first of five flights due to his need to leave early for a scheduled football recruiting visit Saturday in North Dakota. He recorded the top distance (48.97 meters) on his first attempt with Blue Springs senior Vance Herring coming in second (46.61 meters.

Buntz recorded the third-longest javelin distance in Platte County history and nearly became the third to hit the 49-meter mark. He remains just off of the school record current Pirates throwing coach Dakota Schmidt set at 49.78 meters in 2018.