Schlake, Pickett highlight big day at districts in field events for 4th-place Platte County

Addy Schlake continues to improve by leaps and throws.

Maybe not the typical way to describe noticeable and noteworthy development, but the Platte County sophomore doesn’t fit the mold of the typical track and field standout. Schlake maintains diverse abilities and event lists, and in Saturday’s Class 5 District 8 meet, she set personal-bests in the high jump and discus to place fourth in both at North Kansas City District Activities Complex and keep her season going for at least another week.

The top four in each event advanced to this weekend’s Sectional 4 competition slated for the same facility, and Schlake entered in the mix but far from guaranteed to earn either spot.

“I did not expect to qualify in both my events,” Schlake said. “The weather felt great. It was just a good day overall.”

Platte County senior Reese Pickett added three top-three finishes in the three jump events, and senior TK Lawson produced a career-day in shot put to round out a standout day in the field to lead a deep team effort. The Pirates ended up finishing fourth out of 10 teams with 91 points, finishing well back of champion Liberty (158) and runnerup Liberty North (138) but just behind Park Hill South (97 1/2).

Competing in Missouri’s largest classification for a second straight season, last year being the first time at that level, Platte County advanced nine individual events and one relay in what could only be considered a successful day with few disappointments.

Schlake helped boost those numbers, starting the day in discus. She entered seeded fifth but produced a throw of 36.17 meters to jump up a spot into fourth, substantially bettering her previous best mark from earlier in the season of 34.93.

“I’d just say a lot of repetition, just keep going and getting more comfortable in the ring,” Schlake said.

In the high jump, Schlake cleared the first three heights without a miss and ended up in solo fourth, critically avoiding any tiebreaker scenarios after clearing 1.52 meters. Prior to Saturday, she had cleared 1.50 once and 1.47 once.

“(Being clean early) definitely helped build my confidence and give me the confidence I needed,” Schlake said.

Schlake shares the high jump pit with a standout teammate who continues to impress.

Pickett continued her highlight-heavy career with a clearance of 1.57 meters, matching a career-best, but needed a tiebreaker to best Liberty North junior Laura Babbitt for the runnerup spot behind North Kansas City freshman D’marihanna Newton (career-best 1.68 meters). Pickett added a district title in the triple jump (10.83 meters) and third-place showing in long jump (5.30 meters).

With a personal-best in the long jump and just off of the school record she set earlier this year in triple jump, Pickett will look to build on her state resume. She did not have a chance to compete in the spring as a freshman due to the COVID-19 canceled season but advanced in Class 4 in the high jump and long jump. She medaled in a tie for fifth in the high jump that year and then added triple jump as an event for her junior season.

Pickett excelled from the beginning, establishing a personal-best distance in triple jump in her very first competition that held up until earlier this season. She consistently came agonizingly close to the school record until hitting a mark of 11.23 meters at the recent Suburban Conference White Division Championships to finally pass the mark Chandrika Brewton set for the Pirates’ program in 2008.

Last year, Pickett went into Sectional 4 as a district champion in the long jump and triple jump but only went to state in one event. She placed 12th in Class 5 in the triple jump and will now look to navigate a busy day Saturday to advance in all three events for a second time.

“I definitely look up to what (Pickett) does,” Schlake said. “She’s a role model for me.”

Like Schlake, Lawson needed a career-best distance in the shot put to advance. She broke out with an effort of 11.35 meters, having never previously gone longer than 10.98 meters. She joins Schlake as a first-time sectional qualifiers for Platte County. Meanwhile, juniors Sisely Mitchell (1,600) and Ava Filger (100 hurdles) and senior Hannah Mand (100) were the only top-four finishers for the Pirates in individual track events. All three placed fourth.

Platte County also, somewhat surprisingly, only advanced one relay to this weekend’s Sectional 4 meet.

Early in the day, Platte County’s 4×800 team of Mitchell, fellow junior Carmen Gentilia, sophomore Madison Palmer and freshman Addy Ayers continued to gel with a season-best of 10 minutes, 0.21 of a second to finish third overall. The quartet shaved more than 17 seconds off their previous fastest time and established the Pirates as state contenders.

However, Platte County’s other three relays also turned in season-best performances but came up short of the top four in deep fields.

The 4×200 team of Mand, sophomore Haley Barlow and freshmen Rylee Carr and Charley Sims cut almost 3 seconds, but a finish of 1:48.29 ended up sixth. Shortly after, the same quartet for the Pirates went into the 4×100 seeded fourth, but Mand took the baton for the anchor leg and couldn’t make up enough ground on fourth-place Liberty.

Mand crossed the finish line in obvious disappointment but later some measure of consolation after she found out the time of 50.50 seconds produced with Barlow, Carr and Sims broke the school record of 50.66 from 2021. Mand also ran on that version of the 4×100 for Platte County in 2021 with Riley Smith, Zaya Dove and Leah Salzman.

In the 4×400, Platte County faded to eighth by the time Mand, Sims and junior Ava Filger gave the baton to Palmer, who ran the 4×800 in the morning then left to play in the Pirates’ Class 3 District 8 soccer opening round game before returning, for the anchor leg. She passed two runners for a sixth-place finish in 4:17.77.

The group of Mand, Sims, Filger and Palmer had not run faster than 4:21.87 prior to Saturday.

That leaves only Mitchell, Mand and Filger as individual qualifiers out of those groups to compete as individuals for Platte County at Sectional 4. Mitchell jumped to the front of the pack for the first three laps of the 1,600 and eventually came in a comfortable fourth at 5:32.05 on a hot day that prevented distance runners from producing low times. She won district titles in both the 1,600 and 3,200 as a sophomore but dealt with nagging hip pain early in the season that has limited her number of races this season.

After qualifying for sectionals in the 4×800 and 1,600, Mitchell faded back in the 800 and finished behind Ayers (10th) and then scratched out of the 3,200.

As a key cog in three promising relays, Mand almost didn’t run her individual event. She set a career-best of 13.02 to qualify fourth out of the 100 preliminaries but almost scratched to focus on the other races but instead decided to run and placed fourth in another PR of 12.96, meaning her season will continue in an individual event.

Prior to this season, Mand had been to state in relays each of the past two years but had not competed in an individual event during either postseason.

Filger also qualified for sectionals for the first time with two consistent 100 hurdles races. She advanced out of preliminaries in fourth at 16.69 then held that position with a similar time in the finals (16.65). Both were just off of her career-best.

Platte County freshman Ali Benninghoff had finished ahead of her teammate in a handful of recent races but wound up fifth at 16.88, just off her PR of 16.85 during a late breakout to her debut season.

Filger also placed seventh in the 300 hurdles with Platte County junior Mia Delfin setting a career-best time in that race to finish eighth and score another team point for the Pirates. Sims nearly came up with a performance needed to advance in the 200 but came up just short. She qualified eighth out of preliminaries but improved to 27.39 in the finals, only to end up a distant fifth — well back of fourth-place Oak Park sophomore Makenzie Doolin (26.34).