While the usual competitors were responsible for most of Platte County’s top performances at Saturday’s Liberty North Invitational, a familiar name back running the 1,600 meters, a strong day for a senior thrower and the sudden emergence of a freshman hurdler provided additional optimism for the closing stretch of the season.
Conditions were far from optimal due to high winds and cold temperatures at Liberty North High School in Liberty, but Platte County senior Reese Pickett won two field events and nearly swept the jumps. Additionally, Pirates junior Sisely Mitchell ran just her second individual race of the season, finishing third in the 1,600 while remaining cautious due to nagging hip pain that plagued the early part of her season.
Add in runnerup finishes for junior Ava Filger (300 hurdles) and freshman Adi Benninghoff (100 hurdles) plus a third-place showing for senior Joslyn Hupp in shot put, and Platte County turned in a solid showing with the Suburban Conference White Division Championships on the horizon.
One of just three returns with individual experience in the Missouri State Track and Field Championships, Mitchell retained her focus on shorter races, having placed first in the 800 at the recent Winnetonka Invitational. She went up the 1,600 on Saturday and finished third behind the Blue Springs duo of Abigail Brackenbury and Kyla Weems. Mitchell’s time of 5 minutes, 37.10 seconds sits about 15 seconds off of her career best when she went to state in both the 1,600 and 3,200 in Class 5.
Platte County received the mostly expected performance from Filger in the 300 hurdles, although times were off in the inclement weather. She finished in 51.58 to edge Liberty North sophomore by .10 of a second for the runnerup spot. Filger also placed fifth in the 100 hurdles but wasn’t the Pirates’ top finisher in the event.
Benninghoff recently set a career-best time in a freshman meet after embracing a three-step approach to the hurdles in the 100s. She ended up just off of that in finishing second at Liberty North in 16.93 — .10 of a second off what stands as her career-best despite not coming in a varsity meet. Filger ran 17.52 and has to place fifth and has run sub-17 just once, but the Pirates could now have a viable top-tier duo in the shorter hurdle event.
Pickett claimed the only event victories for Platte County and nearly claimed first in all three jump events. She came out on top in a tiebreaker for the high jump at 1.57 meters, while Pirates senior Madison Hoyt ended up third on another tiebreaker at 1.42 meters.
In the long jump, Pickett remained consistent with her other distances this season but earned a win in the event for the first time at 5.11 meters. That’s just off the PR of 5.25 meters she set nine days earlier at the Winnetonka Invitational.
Platte County freshman Rylee Carr claimed third in the long jump at 4.91 meters, just edging Liberty North sophomore Emme Anderson by 2 centimeters. Carr recorded a distance in the event for the first time at the varsity level and put a performance up that backs her obvious potential.
In the triple jump, Pickett went 10.25 meters to finish 7 centimeters behind Blue Valley North (Kansas) senior Ella Shafer. Pickett just recently set her PR at 10.90 meters and continues to chase the elusive school record of 10.91 meters.
Pickett has been to state in all three jumping events over the past two seasons — the long jump and high jump in Class 4 (2021) and triple jump in Class 5 (2022).
Platte County’s other top-five finish in field events came from Hupp, who nearly set a season-best in the shot put at 10.21 meters — good for third. She continues to seek the form from late last season when she set a PR of 10.94 meters at last year’s Platte County Invitational, which will incidentally be held this Friday at Pirate Stadium.
In relays, Platte County claimed second in the 4×800 and third in the 4×200. Mitchell pulled double duty and ran on the long-distance team alongside junior Carmen Gentilia and freshmen Lexie Meinke and Addie Ayers to finish in 10:34.85 — a little more than 8 seconds behind Liberty North but well in front of third-place Smithville. The Pirates’ 4×200 team utilized senior Hannah Mand as the familiar anchor along with sophomore Haley Barlow and freshmen Charley Sims and Amiya Elliott and finished in 1:53.18.
