Platte County slowly built the past two years to put the pieces in place for one big push.
Platte County senior Sisely Mitchell nears the finish line of the Tim Nixon Invitational on Saturday at Capitol Federal Park in Liberty.
Sisely Mitchell, who turned full focus to distance running as a sophomore, emerged as the clear leader but only elevated the performances of those around her. The Pirates’ senior No. 1 led the way in the season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational on Saturday at Capitol Federal Park in Liberty with a fifth-place finish.
However, Platte County senior Carmen Gentilia showed why potential could be fully realized. She crossed the finish line 15th in 19 minutes, 37.00 seconds. She bettered her previous PR by nearly 40 seconds and became just the seventh in program history to run a sub-20 minute time.
“I would think of it in a sense of expressing all the work she put in this year,” Platte County coach Courtland Ingram said. “She seems to be in a really good space in her head.”
Mitchell joined Platte County’s sub-20 club in her breakout sophomore season and currently owns the third fastest time in program history. Gentilia spent the fall of 2021 dealing with nagging injuries but returned for the postseason, and she finally regained full health as a junior and entered the season as a three-time Class 4 Missouri State Cross Country Championships qualifier.
Platte County senior Alex Beeman nears the finish line of the Tim Nixon Invitational on Saturday at Capitol Federal Park in Liberty.
Prior to Saturday, Gentilia’s best time came at state in 2022 (20:15.60). The other eight for the Pirates to break the mark include Rebekah Geddes, Ashton Stubbs, Taylor Tiger, Jessica Clark and Sarah Regan.
Mitchell has also gone sub-19 and continues to flirt with hitting that mark again. She went 19:11.40 at the Tim Nixon Invitational to again finish top five in the Gold Division.
Thanks to the two medalists, Platte County placed eighth out of 13 teams with the other 12 all Class 5 Missouri schools or large schools from Kansas.
Rules allowed for teams to race up to 10 runners — up from the normal seven — to give teams a better look at roster options. Platte County went with eight and wasn’t at full strength with senior Marissa Orellana and sophomore Lexi Meinke not available for the varsity race due to injury. The Pirates’ team score also included senior Alex Beeman (73rd, 21:46.30), junior Madison Palmer (77th, 21:54.00) and sophomore Joanna Reil (80th, 21:57.80).
There were 111 runners in the Gold Division field.
Platte County junior Madison Palmer runs in the Tim Nixon Invitational on Saturday at Capitol Federal Park in Liberty.
Interestingly, this marked the first time in three seasons that Platte County put a senior in the varsity lineup with three total. Mitchell, Gentilia, Beeman and Orellana all have state experience along with Palmer, Reil and junior Annabel Beeman (104th, 24:11.90 on Saturday).
“That group of senior girls haven’t had many older girls above them (in previous years),” Ingram said. “Now, they really get to take ownership and write their legacy and how they can leave a positive impression on their team. What they do now will last for years to come, and I think they’re doing a great job of being great teammates.”
Mitchell ended a lengthy all-state drought for Platte County last season, and Gentilia gives the Pirates two hopefuls to achieve that this season. The Pirates also could have plenty of options to fill out the lineup once fully healthy with Alex Beeman recording her fastest time since 2021 on Saturday, while Palmer and Reil set PRs. Reil went sub-22 minutes for the first time.
On Saturday, Platte County also debuted junior Brooklynne Jenni (98th, 23:23.70) and sophomore Nora McCoy (99th, 23:34.60) and junior Meredith Martinez ran varsity for just the second time (110th, 25:05.50).
