Platte County experienced the expected bump in postseason competition from a move up to Class 5. Now that the Pirates know they will remain there, the challenge has been revealed about overall expectations for established standouts, developing youth and promising newcomers.
In 2022, Platte County’s standout season ended without a medal in the Class 5 Missouri State Track and Field Championships. However, Pirates senior jumper Reese Pickett returns looking for a return to all-state perform, while junior long-distance specialist Sisely Mitchell looks primed for another breakthrough and senior Hannah Mand brings successful experience in the sprints, especially relays.
Pickett, Mitchell and Mand give Platte County three returners from last year’s state contingent, while senior Kenzie Palmer went in the triple jump as a sophomore in Class 4. In addition, Pirates seniors Joslyn Hupp and TK Lawson (shot put), junior Ava Filger and sophomore Payton Stadel (hurdles), junior Carmen Gentilia (long distance), sophomore Addy Schlake (discus high jump) and freshmen Heaven Jale and Charley Sims (sprints) provide depth hopeful of achieving their own postseason success — regardless of success.
Platte County must replace state qualifiers Maya Sullivan and Molly McBratney, Riley Smith and Triton Davey. Sullivan won a Class 4 state championship in her specialty event of pole vault as a junior but missed the podium in a talented Class 5 field last year, finishing her career as a three-time state qualifier in the event — first at Park Hill South in Class 5 as a freshman then her two seasons with the Pirates.
One of the fastest sprinters in program history, Smith went to state as a junior in the 100 and multiple relays and ran with Mand, McBratney and Davey on the Pirates’ 4×200 team that qualified last year by virtue of a fourth-place finish in Class 5 Sectional 4. Mand and Stadel return from an all-district 4×100 team that lost Smith to graduation and sophomore Makayla Turner after her family moved out of state.
In 2021, Platte County placed fourth at state in Class 4 to earn the only team trophy in program history but moved up last year to the state’s largest postseason tier for the first time. However, the Pirates were also second in the Suburban Conference Blue Division Championships and third in Class 5 District 4, again highlighting the team depth.
Pickett actually went to state in a new jumping discipline and placed 12th in the Class 5 triple jump preliminaries, missing the cut of nine finalists. In Class 4 as a debuting sophomore due to the 2020 season’s cancelation as a result of COVID-19, she placed sixth in the long jump and qualified in the high jump and has now qualified for state in her three best events.
In addition, Pickett occasionally contributes in hurdles, but her two Class 5 District 8 championships last year were in long jump and triple jump, while qualifying for Sectional 4 as a fourth-place finisher in high jump. She placed fourth in the triple jump at sectionals to qualify for state in an event she didn’t start competing in until March of last year and one where she chased and nearly broke one of the program’s oldest school records — 10.91 meters from Chandrika Brewton.
At state, Pickett fouled on her first of three triple jump attempts and then went 10.60 meters and 10.42 meters with the longer of the two putting her just 4 centimeters off of ninth and the chance to earn three more attempts in the finals. She goes into her senior season with a personal-best of 10.88 meters, just 3 centimeters away from the mark Brewton set in 2008.
In a rapid climb to state prominence, Mitchell won district titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter races.
In her second season, Mitchell developed into a long-distance specialist following a breakout, all-state cross country season that changed her outlook. She ran the second leg on the Pirates’ fifth-place 4×800 relay as a freshman before switching to longer individual races as a sophomore.
Mitchell captured the Class 5 District 8 titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 and went into state in as a runnerup in both events from Sectional 4. She fell off the pace in Friday’s 1,600 state race and finished 16th then came in 13th in Saturday’s 3,200 with both times well off her season best.
As a freshman, Mitchell ran a leg on Platte County’s fifth-place Class 4 4×800 relay then gave up hockey and volleyball the following fall to focus on distance running. Two years later, she goes into track as a two-time all-state cross country runner looking to better her state performances in both events and as the best potential leg in a 4×800 relay that finished third in last year’s Blue Division meet without her but with Gentilia and junior Emma Reed returners from the quartet.
Gentilia splits time with soccer and also placed finished as second-team all-conference behind Mitchell in the 3,200 last year for Platte County.
Platte County’s 4×200 similarly included dual-sport athletes in Smith and Davey, also standout soccer players, with Mand running the lead leg and McBratney the experienced anchor. Mand earned all-conference honors for the Pirates as a junior on the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 plus the 200.
The 4×200 didn’t go as low as its qualifying time from District 8 but sneaked into the top four while running the Mand-Smith-Davey-McBratney lineup for just the third time this season. The Pirates came in fourth at 1:48.34 with McBratney’s anchor leg helping to fend off Park Hill in what ended up only a seven-team field.
McBratney, who was also Platte county’s top competitor in the open 200 and 400, and Smith were on Platte County’s sixth-place 4×200 state relay in Class 4 a year earlier, while Mand and Smith were on the school-record 4×100 in 2021 that just missed a state medal.
Platte County will need to rebuild the relays but should have strength in the hurdles with the return of Filger and Stadel, who were both first team all-conference performers in the 300s, while Filger was a second-team honoree in the 110s. Palmer was also second team in the triple jump as a junior after placing 14th at state in Class 4 as a sophomore.
Schlake brings a diverse skill set and potential to add additional events after honorable mention Blue Division performances in the high jump and discuss, while fellow sophomore Chloe Pegler gave Platte County a third all-conference high jumper (honorable mention). Hupp (first team all-conference) and Lawson (second team) went back and forth as top performers in the shot put as juniors and provide additional strength in throws. The Pirates also have honorable mention all-conference field performers back in senior Hailey Nemeth (pole vault), junior Hailey Royer (pole vault) and sophomore Samantha Haugsven (javelin).
Sims and Jale are highly accomplished freshmen that give Platte County immediate impact potential in the 100, 200 and hurdles.
