Platte County junior Maggie Wagner competes in a heat of the 300-meter hurdles during the Kansas City Relays on Saturday at Blue Springs South High School in Blue Springs.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — On the strength of traditional and non-traditional relays, Platte County ended up with an impressive team finish in the inaugural Kansas City Relays, held Saturday at Blue Springs South High School. The Pirates racked up 43 points, matching Ladue Horton Watkins, in a meet that brought schools from nearly a dozen states.
However, inclement weather Friday led to all events contested in a tightly packed 12-hour schedule.
Platte County made the most of the opportunity with four top-five relays. Most notably, the Pirates’ sprint medley team of senior Emily Huehl, juniors Vanessa Sarpong and Adi Kern and freshman Mary Dellinger finished as runner-up and nearly won despite a dropped baton during the race.
Sarpong and Kern ran the 200s, Huehl the 400 and Dellinger the 800 with a time of 4 minutes, 23.76 seconds, and despite having to recover the baton between 200s, Platte County came in just .60 of a second behind North Platte.
Platte County freshman Mary Dellinger runs a leg of the 4×1,600-meter relay during the Kansas City Relays on Saturday at Blue Springs South High School in Blue Springs.
In another non-traditional race, Platte County pieced together a 4×1,600-meter team of senior Madelyn Stewart, sophomore Tyler Stambersky and freshmen Carlie Baker and Dellinger for a fifth-place finish at 23:46.35. The Pirates were also fifth in both the 4×100 and 4×400 with season-best times.
In the 4×100, senior Rylee Carr and juniors Maggie Wagner, Kern and Sarpong nearly broke Platte County’s school record, coming in at 50.54. Wagner, Sarpong and Kern were on the unit that ran a 50.28 at Class 5 District 8 last season with Carr replacing sophomore Addison Stone, only playing soccer and not running track this season.
Platte County’s 4×400 also continued the recent marked improvement with Stewart, Huehl, Wagner and Dellinger running 4:08.21, having finally unlocked an effective combination after struggles in the event during recent years.
The runners comprising the relays were also a big part of strong individual showings.
Kern cleared a career-best 3.05 meters for a second straight meet and placed sixth in the pole vault to score more points, while Wagner capped a busy day by setting a PR in the 300 hurdles at 49.49. She placed 13th.
Platte County junior Adi Kern competes in the pole vault during the Kansas City Relays on Saturday at Blue Springs South High School in Blue Springs.
Huehl ran a season-best 2:28.15 (21st) in the 800, while senior teammate Addie Ayers kept pace with her teammate for most of the race and finished in 2:30.56 (28th). Ayers, a two-time state qualifier in Platte County’s 4×800 relay as a freshman and sophomore, posted her best time since setting a PR of 2:28.16 in the 2025 Ken Peek Invitational.
Carr came in 15th in the long jump at 4.82 meters, while Wagner struggled with her approach steps and went 4.31 meters, 24th overall. Stambersky (34th, 12:14.35) and Baker (40th, 12:39.17) both set PRs in a deep field of 3,200 runners.
Outside of the relay standouts, Platte County sophomore Millie Parker placed 13th in the discus (26.59 meters), as did junior Kelly Bullano in the javelin (31.76 meters). Ashleigh Cruce, a senior, gave the Pirates a second top-20 showing in javelin, coming in 15th (30.06 meters).
Platte County senior Adi Benninghoff hit the second hurdle in the 100-meter hurdle race. She recovered from a noticeable fall to finish but did not post a time up to her normal standards.
Benninghoff and Bullano are Platte County’s only returning individual state qualifiers, along with Ayers’ two trips in the 4×800.
Winnetonka Invitational
With a limited roster due to the KC Relays commitments, Platte County posted just 17 team points in Thursday’s meet at North Kansas City District Activities Complex in Kansas City. Rylee Dishman, a freshman, came in fourth in the triple jump of 10.18, a mark she bettered by 1 centimeter in Tuesday’s Andy Keefer 9th Grade Invitational, while senior Karrington Friddell came in fifth in the pole vault as part of a four-way tie for third at 2.29 meters.
