The top pieces went back into the 4×800-meter relay for Friday’s Platte County Invitational at Pirate Stadium, and the potential 0f an elite unit shone bright once again.
Platte County senior Kevin Taylor takes an attempt in the pole vault during Friday’s Platte County Invitational at Pirate Stadium.
Despite a limited field of eight teams due to weather concerns that didn’t materialize, Platte County’s team of junior Josh Fraker and seniors Kade Meinke, Andrew Johnson and Connor Currence staved off Lee’s Summit for an easy victory, finishing first in 8 minutes, 7.96 seconds — less than 4 seconds off this year’s season-best. The individuals from the quartet went on to post a pair of individual victories and a runnerup showing.
Combined with two PRs in the hurdle events from freshman Jack Johnson and senior Kevin Taylor’s pole vault win, Platte County posted 167.2 points and won the team title, as well.
Platte County didn’t run full strength in all the relays with the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 all coming in third place. The Pirates’ sprint medley opened the meet with a runnerup showing in an extra race not held at all meets.
The 4×000 then set the tone for a competitive but celebratory afternoon that started out overcast but eventually gave way to mostly sunshine.
Platte County senior Andrew Johnson leads the 3,200-meter race during the Platte County Invitational on Friday at Pirate Stadium.
Fraker stayed in the middle of a front pack, and Andrew Johnson, Platte County’s senior long-distance star, pushed to the front on the third and fourth laps of the race. Meinke and Currence only had to hold from there, and the Pirates came in nearly 8 seconds in front of Lee’s Summit.
Platte County’s best time of the season (8:03.66) came in Jefferson City’s Licklider Invitational with sophomore Blake Herron in the lineup, while Andrew Johnson focused on individual events. That speaks to the depth of the Pirates’ relays which now go in to Tuesday’s Suburban Conference White Division Championships with one last look at combinations before the postseason starts.
Andrew Johnson maintains a profile as a state leader in the 3,200 and 1,600. He ran the longer of the two Friday but needed only a mark of 10:02.73 to beat Grain Valley’s Rylan Smith to the line by more than 8 seconds.
Currence, who missed most of last season due to a foot injury, continued to chase the school record in the open 800. He went into the second lap of the race second to Lee’s Summit senior Bentley St. John but pushed to the front and came to the line in a new personal-best of 1:58.13. That marked his second straight sub-2 minute time and just off the all-time-best mark Keegan Cordova set in 2019 at 1:57.04.
Platte County senior Connor Currence crosses the finish line in the 800-meter race during Friday’s Platte County Invitational at Pirate Stadium.
Fraker only recently joined the 4×800 but has become an importantly strong first leg. He finished second in the open 400 at 51.78 with only Currence having run faster than that this season (51.78).
Platte County also claimed third in that race with junior Brayden Eschliman posting a 52.75.
Jack Johnson continued to climb the state’s leaderboard in both the 110 and 300 hurdles. In the shorter race, he posted a 15.59 to edge Oak Park junior Davion Thompson by .03 of a second and push his streak of races under 16 seconds to four.
In the 300s, Jack Johnson surged to an early lead and finished in 41.98 — his first sub-42 performance — to easily outpace runnerup Jaeden Davis of Raytown (43.55).
Also taking advantage of a decent wind at the back of runners on the front stretch, Platte County sophomore Braiden Stevens also posted a new PR and finished second in the 100 at 11.02. He finished in front of Smithville senior Jet Coleman (11.07), Raytown senior Dominic Tarr-Brooks (11.08) and Kearney junior Grant Noland (11.12) in a tight finish behind Lee’s Summit sophomore and race winner Nick Gormly (10.94).
Platte County junior Tanner Jenks adde a runnerup showing in the 1,600 (4:41.40) to break up the top two runners from Lee’s Summit in another finish important to the team title.
Platte County senior Gage Fulk runs the anchor leg of the 4×100 mixed throwers’ relay during the Platte County Invitational on Friday at Pirate Stadium.
In the field events, Platte County did just enough and received a huge boost from Taylor, who cleared a personal-best 3.97 meters to top a field of three in pole vault. He has cleared 3.66 meters or better in four of six competitions this year and finished in front of Lee’s Summit senior Hyrum Ward (3.66 meters) and Platte County junior Finn Smith (3.05 meters).
Platte County senior Gage Fulk set a PR in the shot put (14.3 meters) and also finished second in the discus (40.22 meters). He also ran the anchor of the 4×100 mixed thrower’s relay along with freshman Kyler Parker that finished first in a two-entrant race.
In another break from the norms, Platte County went with all seniors for the 4×400 with long-distance runners Andrew Johnson and Meinke donning sprinter’s speedsuits along with Currence and Savion Jones in a third-place showing (3:38.17). Currence and Jones have the potential to make the postseason lineup in that event along with Fraker, Eschliman and Jack Johnson. The Pirates also have the possibility of returning sophomore Jackson Goodale, who has missed the entire season with a leg injury but anchored the school-record unit last year in a breakout freshman season.
Goodale’s availability remains in question, but Platte County has shown the possibility of breaking last year’s mark. Eschliman and Fraker also ran on the record-setting 4×400 with Aaron Cordova the only graduated member.
