Addy Schlake and Kelly Bullano kept up the momentum from recent school-record throws in different ways Thursday night.
Platte County junior Addy Schlake throws the discus during the Bonner Springs Invitational on Thursday in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
Platte County’s junior and freshman duo place second and sixth in the discus in the Bonner Springs Invitational while the Pirates came away with a team championship. Schlake posted a runnerup effort of 36.65 meters — her second-best throw of the season but off the breakthrough mark of 41.57 she set just five days earlier.
Bullano put up a PR of 30.63 meters in the event. She did not participate in javelin after she went to the Andy Kiefer 9th Grade Invitational two days prior and came away with a school record in the javelin (36.6 meters).
In the process, Bullano bettered her previous season best by almost 4 full meters and took down the mark of 35.56 Addison Long put up in Class 4 Sectional 4 competition during her junior season.
Platte County won five events — one that didn’t count in the team standings — to total 173 points, 12 better than runnerup Basehor-Linwood. The Pirates were the only Missouri team in the field, making the trip west due to a scheduling conflict that prevented them from attending this year’s Gary Parker Invitational at Blue Springs.
A returning Class 5 MSHSAA Track and Field Championships qualifier in discus, Schlake also finished second in high jump at 4 feet, 10 inches, losing out on first one tiebreakers. She added a fifth-place showing in shot put at 9.78 meters.
Platte County seniors Carmen Gentilia (left) and Sisely Mitchell (right) compete in the 800-meter run during the Bonner Springs Invitational on Thursday in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
Platte County continues to make strides in throwing events, notably in javelin with the return of alum and Division II National Championships qualifier Dakota Schmidt to the staff. In Thursday’s meet, sophomore Ashleigh Cruce placed fourth for the Pirates in javelin with a personal-best of 30.30 meters.
Three of Platte County’s wins came in long-distance events with coaches taking an opportunity to put standouts in individual races. The Pirates took the top two spots in the 800 with senior Sisely Mitchell taking a rare opportunity to take a run at the school record Elizabeth Robbins continues to hold. A previous state qualifier in the 1,600 and 3,200, she came up just short on a cold and windy evening but took first in 2 minutes, 19.39 seconds with fellow senior Carmen Gentilia the runnerup (2:24.03).
Platte County junior Alexia Myer, a first-year transfer to the program showing promise across multiple events, came in fourth (2:31.38) in the 800.
Mitchell set a PR with the No. 6 time in school history according to available records with Robbins set the school at 2:17.13 on her way to winning a state championship in 2000. She went on to win the 3,200 in a season-best 11:25.47, posting nearly a full-minute margin of victory over Leavenworth freshman Kelsie Kudzia.
Platte County sophomore Adi Benninghoff competes in the 100-meter hurdles during the Bonner Springs Invitational on Thursday in Bonner Springs, Kansas.
Gentilia also posted a PR while taking first place in the 1,600 at 5:26.27, more than 8 seconds off the mark she posted at the Liberty North Time Trial in the preseason.
The adverse weather conditions slowed down hurdle times, but senior Ava Filger finished first in the 300s (49.28) and second in the 100s (16.90). She finished ahead of continually improving sophomore teammate Adi Benninghoff — third in both events (52.94 in the 300s and 17.11 in the 100s).
Filger, Gentilia, Myer and freshman Adilynn Kern ran for Platte County’s 4×400 relay, which still does not have a set lineup but plenty of options as the postseason approaches. The Pirates ran 4:22.33 and finished secondbut were about 10 seconds off the season-best from five days earlier.
Even with the 4×800 missing the majority of regulars, Platte County’s 4×800 also came in as runnerup using senior Emma Reed and sophomores Addie Ayers, Lexi Meinke and Maddie Stewart (11:13.73).
Platte County’s 4×100 continued to benefit from sophomore standout Charley Sims’ recent return from injury. She ran with Kern and fellow freshmen Maggie Davis and Maggie Wagner, and the Pirates ended up with a third second-place finish at 53.14.
The lone relay win for Platte County came in the non-traditional 100-100-200-400 with Wagner, Sims, Filger and Davis running 2:03.06.
Platte County freshman Vanessa Sarpong, also part of a talented class of sprinters, came in fourth in the 200 (28.34), while Kern lost a tiebreaker and finished fifth in the pole vault at 8 feet, 6 inches.
