Almost impossibly, Platte County did not have a senior in the lineup at any during each of the past two seasons. The streak undoubtedly comes to an end in next Saturday’s season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational in what the Pirates hope serves as a kickoff for a memorable season.
Platte County senior Sisely Mitchell leads the Suburban Conference White Division race in front of senior teammate Carmen Gentilia last fall in Grain Valley.
Platte County seniors Sisely Mitchell and Carmen Gentilia lead an experienced and tested roster looking for a fourth straight team berth in the Class 4 Missouri State Cross Country Championships. That’s with the assumption the Pirates don’t move up to Class 5, but either way, the lineup appears in place to improve on the last three showings.
“The seniors on this team continue to grow and develop their leadership skills,” Platte County third-year coach Courtland Ingram said. “They have strong values and high standards for themselves athletically as well as academically. This is a special group to me, and I am honored to work with them as their journey unfolds in the next couple months.”
Platte County senior Carmen Gentilia runs in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships last fall in Grain Valley.
Mitchell brings the elite credentials of a No. 1 having earned Class 4 all-state honors each of the past two years, while Gentilia turned in a career-best season last year, placing 30th at state.
Platte County returns six total qualifiers from last year’s 14th-place state team including seniors Marissa Orellana and Alex Beeman, junior Annabel Beeman and sophomore Joanna Reil. The Pirates also have junior Madison Palmer, who helped them to a third-place showing in Class 4 District 4 to earn an automatic team berth for a second straight year before coming up ill ahead of the season’s final race. She ran at state as a freshman.
Mitchell placed 12th in Class 4 as a junior, coming outside the top 10 of a race for the only time last fall. Her time of 19 minutes, 27.20 seconds at Gans Creek in Columbia came up short of her career-best set on the same course earlier in the season (18:51.40) and her state time as a sophomore when she placed 11th (19:12.10).
Now the first two-time all-state finisher for the program since Rebekah Geddes in 2015 and 2016, Mitchell continued her rapid ascension into the state’s elite, transitioning full time in the fall to distance running instead of hockey and volleyball. She continues to chase Geddes’ school record of 18:44.66 set as a junior in her last of three-straight all-state seasons.
Gentilia is the only member of each Platte County state team from the past three years, and she excelled as a junior while fully healthy for the first time in her career. She set a career-best of 20:15.60 at state, missing a top-25 all-state time by less than 20 seconds.
Platte County senior Alex Beeman runs in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships last fall in Grain Valley.
In two previous trips, Gentilia came in 56th and 46th and looks to continue her upward trajectory. If in Class 4, Mitchell and Gentilia should also have a chance at producing Platte County’s first season with multiple all-state runners since 2011 when Kaly Edwards finished 22nd and Addie Jenkins 25th in Class 3.
Orellana (134th, 23:04.40) and Alex Beeman (142nd, 23:33.30) also ran at state for a second straight year, while Annabel Beeman (career-best 23:34.90 while rounding out Platte County’s steam score in 143rd behind her older sister) made her debut as did Reil (146th, 23:46.40). However, the Pirates were from full strength with Palmer’s absence and a nagging ankle injury hampering Alex Beeman.
Platte County doesn’t bring everyone back.
Julia Greco, a two-time state qualifier who filled in for Palmer on short notice, did not return this fall. Lily Kytasaari, a junior, has been a key contributor during the regular season each of the past two years but missed the postseason due to club soccer commitments and will not run for the Pirates this year.
However, Palmer owns a career-best of 22:47.20 when she placed 144th at state as a freshman and gives Platte County seven runners with state experience. In addition, the Pirates expect sophomores Addie Ayers and Indigo Teufel to push for time in the lineup, as well. Ayers enjoyed a strong spring track season and went the Class 4 Missouri State Track and Field Championships on a 4×800-meter relay team also including Mitchell, Gentilia and Palmer.
Platte County senior Marissa Orellana runs in the Suburban Conference White Division Championships last fall in Grain Valley.
Platte County successfully retooled the lineup in wake of other underclassmen departures in recent seasons. The three successive state teams were all very different with the last two being automatic with top-four finishes (third in 2022 and second in 2023), but three years ago, the state reduced the number of auto qualifiers to two during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pirates finished third but qualified six individuals, allowing them to post a team score.
The senior-laden group of six came in eighth, and Platte County slipped to 13th during Mitchell’s initial breakout season then dropped slightly to 14th last year in tough weather conditions that led to generally slower times for the field. The Pirates now have sites set on unseating Grain Valley for the Suburban Conference White Division title and again pushing for increased postseason success.
Mitchell also became the first individual conference champion for Platte County since Geddes won the Blue Division title as a junior in 2016. She did not run as a senior after graduating early and moving on to run at Division I BYU.
Gentilia (second), Orellana (10th), Palmer (11th) and Alex Beeman (13th) also notched individual all-conference honors for Platte County, which made its White Division debut and finished second behind Grain Valley with only three of five teams competing with enough runners to post a team score.
