Brutally cold and windy conditions did little for times on the track in Saturday’s Liberty North Invitational, but Platte County achieve a few notable distances. The Pirates mostly struggled in the 13-team meet at Liberty North High School, but seniors Dominic Spears (triple jump) and Garrett Smith-Dean (long jump) set new career-bests, while fellow senior Cameron Wolfe threw a season-best in the discus.
In perhaps the biggest surprise, Platte County senior Carter Salzman continued his upward progression in pole vault, clearing a career-best 3.66 meters to place fourth. He previously qualified for Missouri State Track and Field Championships in the 4×100-meter relay as a sophomore in Class 4, but hamstring concerns have led him to focus on a field event.
Salzman has competed just twice this year and set a new PR each team, going to 3.51 and then 3.66 this month.
Spears competed for just the second time this season and finished sixth in a strong field at 12.43 meters. That bettered his previous best mark of 11.92 set in a junior varsity meet as a freshman.
Smith-Dean, a state qualifier with Salzman on the 2021 4×100, continued to excel in long jump after picking up the event in his senior return to the roster. Having not finished last season, he now owns a PR of 6.39 meters — good enough for fifth place on Saturday.
Wolfe earned fourth place with his throw of 42.08 meters, having yet to go past 41.95 in four other meets this season. His career-best still sits at 43.60 from early in his junior season.
Platte County’s best running event finish came from the 4×800 relay team of seniors Ryan McCoy and Gavin Jenks, junior Kade Meinke and sophomore Zack McCall. The Pirates were a distant third behind the top two (Liberty North and Rockhurst) with a time of 8 minutes, 59.26 seconds.
Andrew Johnson, Platte County’s star long-distance junior, focused on the 3,200 and ended up sixth in a crowded, talented field. He was off his career-best pace set earlier this season and finished in 9:51.88.
