Four of Platte County’s five scoring runners set a season-best or career-best in Saturday’s Gans Creek Classic in Columbia. The group ended up being all freshmen and sophomores and only included two of five returning state qualifiers, but the Pirates still placed eighth out of 21 teams with a score of 227 on the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
Platte County sophomore Madison Fuller, left, and freshman Carlie Baker run toward the finish line in the Gans Creek Classic on Saturday at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia.
Platte County sophomore Tyler Stambersky actually led the way, placing 20th in 19 minutes, 43.80 seconds. This notably gave her a third career time under 20 minutes and second this season, while also being faster than her all-state race on the same course as a freshman when she finished in 20:26.40 but understandably in much more adverse muddy conditions.
Stambersky set her PR in the season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational at 19:28.10.
Platte County freshmen Mary Dellinger (35th, 20:19.60) and Carlie Baker (54th, 21:05.20) and sophomore Madison Fuller (55th, 2:05.30) all ran the fastest races of their careers. Dellinger previously went 20:52.40 at the Tim Nixon Invitational and ended up just 19 seconds away from joining an exclusive list of eight runners in program history to go under 20 minutes in a race, the most recent being Stambersky. Baker and Fuller charged to the finish line right next to each other, continuing their tendency to stay close together for the Pirates this season.
Baker and Fuller both set previous PRs during a trip to the Pella Invitational earlier in September.
Platte County sophomore Arsema Ayiche, also a state qualifier as a freshman, came in 94th and set a season-best at 22:03.60. The Pirates entered nine runners with seniors Maddie Stewart (107th, 22:34.00), Nora McCoy (128th, 23:32.40) and Joanna Reil (131st, 23:51.50) also having at least one prior state race to their credit, while junior Alex Yurko (136th, 24:06.10) ran just her second varsity race of the season.
Ultimately just 34 points out of the top five, Platte County didn’t have senior Indigo Teufel, who regularly featured in the top five and team scores early in the season. However, the experience combining with development and talented freshmen have helped the Pirates remain competitive in all races this season.
Platte County does have to prepare for a move up to Class 5 for this postseason, which will end up in a more difficult state advancement. The Pirates have sent a team to the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships each of the past five seasons with Gans Creek hosting each of those, meaning Saturday serves as a preview for qualifiers.
