From an outside perspective, replacing the leadership and achievement of two accomplished long-distance runners looks like an overwhelming challenge.
A closer inspection of the roster shows a plethora of pieces capable of individual and group success for Platte County, the defending Suburban Conference White Division champions. The returners include sophomore Kelly Bullano, junior Addie Ayers and seniors Addy Schlake and Alexia Myer — four members of last year’s Class 5 MSHSAA Track and Field Championships contingent that brought back the first state medals at that level in program history.
Bullano ended up with the best individual podium finish for Platte County a year ago. She threw 41.55 meters on her first attempt at state to set a school record and immediately move into fourth place. She went into finals fifth and stayed in that spot.
Earlier in the season, Bullano erased the program’s previous longest throw at a freshman meet with mark of 36.6 meters and then improved that to 37.52 at districts, 41.03 at sectionals and then over 41.55 at state. Addison Long held the previous school record since 2019.
Now, Bullano looks to potentially add shot put to her events in what could be a strong top two for Platte County in throwing events.
Schlake set the school record in the discus as a junior while earning a second straight state berth in the event. However, she missed finals in both 2023 and 2024, placing 12th in preliminaries the first time and 11th last year. Her record mark of 41.57 meters came in the Licklider Invitational, also held in Jefferson City but did not get back to that distance in the postseason.
After sneaking through districts, Schlake threw 39.96 meters to finish third at Class 5 Sectional 4 to earn a repeat state berth.
The tribulations underscore the difficulty of achieving high-level postseason success for Platte County since moving up to Class 5 in 2022. The Pirates didn’t have a single all-state finish at that level prior to last season when Bullano, graduated senior Sisely Mitchell (sixth, 800) and the 4×800 relay (fifth) all made the podium in a breakthrough season.
Platte County does lose Mitchell, school record holder in the 800 and 1,600 and now a standout at Division II Rogers State, and Carmen Gentilia from the distance relay. Those two plus Myer and Ayers for a finish of 9 minutes, 27.83 seconds at state that broke the school record set a week earlier at Class 5 Sectional 4 by more than 11 seconds. The previous mark of 9:38.95 took down the 2017 state team’s mark of 9:41.54.
A first-year transfer, Myer now leads the returning group in seniority, but Ayers went to state with Mitchell, Gentilia and senior Madison Palmer in 2023 when Platte County finished out of the medals at 13th. Palmer splits time with soccer but adds another potential, while senior Maddie Nichols enters her first year on the roster after a standout cross country season. The other factor will be the performance of junior transfer Emily Huehl, an all-state performer in Kansas at the Class 1A level in the 800 as a sophomore while at Wakefield.
Mitchell also medaled in the 4×800 as a freshman in Class 4, while Gentilia also competed in last year’s 1,600 final in the first individual state race of her career before signing with Division II Truman State.
Platte County’s state qualifiers also included junior Adi Benninghoff, who continues to chase the school record in the 100 hurdles. She continues a swift upward trajectory after running 20.21 in her first race as a freshman but going on to finish fifth in districts that season.
A year ago, Benninghoff finished second at districts and fourth at sectionals, but her best time prior to state came at conference (15.56). She ran 15.35 in the state preliminaries but still must drop time to catch Jan Herndon’s long-standing school record of 14.93 from 1993.
Benninfhoff and fellow junior Heaven Jale are Platte County’s top returning hurdlers after the graduation of three-year standout Ava Filger.
However, Platte County must piece rebuild the one state qualifying relay and put pieces together on the other three potentially strong units. The Pirates have junior Charley Sims and sophomores Adi Kern, Maggie Wagner, Maggie Davis and Vanessa Sarpong in the sprints, along with standout freshman Addison Stone, who will also split time with soccer but could be a strong contributor.
According to Platte County coach Jerod Smith, Huehl, Myer, Nichols and Kern all have a shot to be on a reconfigured 4×400 after struggling to find a consistently productive unit a year ago. Without the top-scoring duo of Mitchell and Gentilia, the Pirates also have Ayers, Huehl and fellow juniors Maddie Stewart, Lexi Meinke and Joanna Reil plus standout freshman Tyler Stambersky as options in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.
Platte County’s depth extends off the track and outside of throws, as well. Kern qualified for sectionals in the pole vault as a freshman and placed second in the high jump at conference as a sophomore with Schlake fourth in the same event. The Pirates have less experience in the long jump and triple jump with junior Rylee Carr the top returner.
In addition to Schlake and Bullano, Platte County juniors Ashleigh Cruce (javelin) and Marlee Snyder-Richardson (shot put) also competed in throws at districts. Bullano and Schlake were also in both the discus and shot put, providing more versatility for accruing points in hopes of fourth conference title in five years.
