Platte County knows to expect success on the track but wanted to develop some confidence in the field in the last tuneup before the Suburban Conference White Division Championships. With a field reduced to eight teams after some canceled in anticipation of inclement weather that did not materialize, the Pirates ended up winning six total events in Friday’s Platte County Invitational at Pirate Stadium.
Platte County senior Autumn Redes takes an attempt in the long jump during the Platte County Invitational on Friday at Pirate Stadium.
The first-place finishes included sophomore Rylee Carr in the long jump, freshman Kelly Bullano in javelin and junior Addy Schlake in both the discus and shot put.
Platte County ended up totaling 197 points and easily outdistancing runnerup Lee’s Summit (145 1/2) for the team championship. The Pirates also won the 4×800-meter relay and came in second in both the 4×200 and 4×400 as part of the dominant effort.
In the long jump, Carr led a Platte County group taking three of the top four spots. She posted a winning distance of 4.55 meters, off her season-best of 4.89 and the career-best of 5.02 she set as a freshman but continuing to trend in the right direction. Autumn Redes, a senior, tied for second at 4.45 meters, while junior Payton Stadel came in fourth at 4.41.
Those marks were also off of season-bests, but the competition took place with jumpers going into the wind.
Bullano nearly matched the school record she recently set in the javelin during a freshman meet. Her mark of 36.51 on Friday easily won the competition and missed her mark of 36.6 from earlier in the month with sophomore teammate Ashleigh Cruce finishing second with her PR of 34.94 meters — more than 6 meters better than the preseason mark of 28.91 in her debut in the event.
Platte County freshman Adi Kern goes up for an attempt in the pole vault during the Platte County Invitational on Friday at Pirate Stadium.
Schlake, who recently set the school record in discus, maintained the strong trajectory of the throwing program under coaches Derek Kohler and Dakota Schmidt. She set a PR in the shot put (10.46 meters) to edge Kearney junior Brooke Llewellyn.
In the discus, Schlake threw 36.82 meters to win but didn’t approach her recent PR of 41.57 meters.
While Schlake didn’t medal in the high jump, Platte County freshman Adi Kern tied for second but finished third at 1.47 meters and then added a second-place finish in the pole vault with a PR of 2.75 meters. She also ran on the second-place 4×200 team with sophomore Charley Sims and freshmen Vanessa Sarpong and Maggie Davis (1:51.81).
Sims, coming back from a leg injury that kept her out the majority of this season, also set a PR in the 200 and finished third at 27.07.
Platte County set season-bests in all four relays during Jefferson City’s Licklider Invitational earlier this year. With Sims auditioning in the sprints, the Pirates really only loaded up the 4×800 with a potential new-look lineup and then put together the special senior-only quartet for the closing 4×400.
Platte County junior Alexia Myer takes off in the 400-meter race during the Platte County Invitational on Friday at Pirate Stadium.
The 4×800 dominated start to finish with senior star Sisely Mitchell pulling away on the opening leg and then passing off to junior Alexia Myer, sophomore Addie Ayers and junior Carmen Gentilia. Platte County went 10:02.67 — well off the season-best but with no real competition to push the pace. Smithville placed second at 10:29.05.
Myer, a transfer and first-year contributor, also set a season-best in the 400 (1:02.20) and finished second, unable to hold a late lead in a tight finish for the top-three spots. She now looks to be a contributor on both the 4×800 and 4×400 with a chance to give the Pirates extra push in at last one individual event.
Mitchell (5:20.69) just missed a PR while winning the 1,600 with Gentilia third (5:46.60), and Platte County’s top distance duo then greeted fourth-place sophomore Maddie Stewart with congratulatory hugs after she posted a career-best of 5:55.83 to finish fourth.
Platte County also continued to show off strength in the hurdling events with sophomore Adi Benninghoff winning the 100 race in 15.85 — just missing her PR of 15.71 set early this month. The Pirates had two of the top three finishers with senior Ava Filger in third at 16.57 and just missing her career-best of 16.53 set to open the season.
Platte County senior Sisely Mitchell (left) leans at the line in an attempt to win the 4×400-meter relay race during the Platte County Invitational on Friday at Pirate Stadium.
Filger then came back to place second in the 300 hurdles at 50.88.
Platte County then used Gentilia, Mitchell and Filger along with senior Emma Reed in the 4×400. Gentilia came out of the blocks in a rare sight for the distance specialist, and Filger kept the Pirates in first for each of the first two laps.
Mitchell took the baton from Reed just behind Lee’s Summit and then engaged in a sprint to the finish.
Not necessarily known for a dominant stretch kick, Mitchell put her head down and appeared to be closing the gap, even using a sprinter’s lean at the line in an attempt to steal the victory. Lee’s Summit ended up narrowly recording the victory in 4:18.81, while the Pirates came in at 4:18.83 in a a virtual photo finish.
