LIBERTY, Mo. — Platte County didn’t even have all the expected contributors in the lineup, but the youth movement became even more evident in Saturday’s Tim Nixon Invitational one of the most competitive races held in the Kansas City area. The Pirates were in the Gold Division — reserved for the largest schools in Kansas and Missouri — despite not knowing this year’s postseason assignment.
Platte County senior Elise Lundholm runs in the Tim Nixon Invitational last Saturday at Capitol Federal Sports Complex in Liberty.
The course at Capitol Federal Sports Complex generally produces fast times, but steamy hot conditions, even with races moved up to earlier starts to counter the forecasted weather, provided an additional challenge.
Platte County junior Tyler Stambersky finished 17th and finished as a medalist. The Pirates were eighth out of 11 teams overall with their next five finishers all either freshmen or sophomores, and only two seniors were in the nine-runner lineup.
A two-time state qualifier and 2024 medalist in the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships, Stambersky just missed a sub-20 minute time but came across the line in 20 minutes, 3.50 seconds — faster than all but two of her starts as a sophomore. That included a 19:28.10 PR in the Tim Nixon Invitational.
Platte County didn’t have junior Maddie Fuller, a big part of last season’s lineup, but sophomores Mary Dellinger (36th, 21:06.60), Carlie Baker (60th, 21:55.40) and Brooklyn Niewald (76th, 23:19.50) and freshman Claire Babcock (72nd, 22:58.00) rounded out the team score. Lane Keraus, another freshman, ended up as the Pirates’ No. 6 finisher (78th, 23:23.10) with senior Elise Lundholm not far back (81st, 23:33.40) not far behind.
Platte County sophomore Brooklyn Niewald runs in the Tim Nixon Invitational on Friday
A year ago, Platte County bumped up to Class 5 in the postseason for the first time with Stambersky the only individual qualifier. That snapped a streak of five straight years with the Pirates sending a full team with those all coming in Class 4.
Because of this, only Stambersky brings back prior state experience for Platte County. However, Fuller, Dellinger and Baker all ran for the Pirates in last year’s postseason.
However, the results were encouraging in Platte County’s season debut. Dellinger nearly broke 21 minutes for the third time her career, while Baker bettered her time from the same course a year ago. Lundholm added a career-best time while junior Kensington Sturdy and senior Alex Yurko rounded out the lineup.
Platte County finds out this season’s district assignment on Friday, September 11. That likely determines the difficult level for state qualification with Class 4 providing a much more manageable path based on historical results.
For example, Stambersky would have been third in the Silver Division race Saturday while Dellinger and Baker also would have medaled.
