State-record 4×100 highlights Platte County’s second straight conference championship

BELTON, Mo. — All three handoffs were smooth, and each of the four legs looked fast as a result.

Just how fast ended up a bit shocking for most — both at Monday’s Suburban Conference White Division Championships at Belton’s Southwick Stadium and those who saw Platte County’s winning 4×100-meter time. The Pirates’ junior quartet of Adam Gisler, Braiden Stevens, Adeboye Akande and Ty Christopher not only continued to lower the school record but also posted what available compiled results show as the fastest mark in the event for a Missouri high school team in state history.

41.24 seconds. That’s fast. Previously, available records show Hazelwood West with the previous state record at 41.28, set at a conference meet back in 2008.

The historically fast time in the 4×100 provided an obvious highlight to Platte County’s second straight conference title — the first for the program since winning the Blue Division crown in 2021. The Pirates won three of four relays and likely would have completed the sweep, but senior Josh Fraker ended up a late scratch in the 4×400 due to hamstring tightness after he won the 400 race earlier in the meet and ran the anchor of a first-place 4×800.

Stevens (100), Christopher (200), Fraker (400), junior Elijah Jackson (800), senior Tanner Jenks (1,600) and junior Jack Johnson (110 hurdles) also won individual conference titles for Platte County, which totaled 212 points. Grain Valley eventually ended up runnerup with 154 1/2, while Fort Osage came in third at 117 in the eight-team standings.

Platte County’s familiar 4×100 combination actually set the school record for the fourth time in the past five races running together, starting with last year’s Class 5 Sectional 4. The Pirates ran 42.56 that day in the familiar order of Gisler out of the blocks followed by Stevens and Akande with Christopher on the anchor leg, and the continually improving unit has now lowered that mark by more than a full second and a quarter.

Stevens also owns the Platte school record in the open 100, and he claimed a conference title in the event Monday, as well. He ran 10.96 — off the career-best mark of 10.64 he set earlier in the season before a recently long layoff due to weather cancellations and postponements — with Gisler in third (11.16) and Christopher fifth (11.21) to give the Pirates a trio of medalists.

Christopher also neared his career-best in winning the 200 at 22.05, while Akande posted his fastest time at 22.33 to place second. He ran 22.34 earlier this season in the Kearney Classic Invitational.

In an effort to maximize team scoring, Platte County didn’t load up the 4×200 but still finished first in 1:28.93 with combination of seniors Caden McGhee and Frailyn Lene, Akande on the anchor and freshman Cassius Guillory. The Pirates also had three medalists in the 200 with McGhee sixth (22.99).

Platte County’s near sweep of all running events included Fraker running a personal-best 48.31 in the 400 despite slipping out of the blocks. That marks the third-fastest time in program history according to available records with Naron Rollins’ marks of 48.13 and 47.85 the only ones left for him to pursue.

However, Fraker needed to scratch the 4×400 just before the start of the meet’s final race after feeling discomfort, and Platte County ended up without two of the potential preferred legs for the postseason. The Pirates have set the school record in the event multiple times over the past two seasons and returned junior Jackson Goodale and Fraker from last year’s Class 5 state runnerup relay.

Platte County ended up with sophomore Nick Fetterman running the lead league with Johnson and Goodale helping push the Pirates into a lead after the first three legs at conference. Josiah O’Rourke, a freshman, ended up pulled in to run anchor after Fraker’s injury, and Raytown senior Terrion Thompson caught him in the final stretch to give the Blue Jays the win in 3:28.73. The Pirates were at 3:29.56 but have run as fast as 3:19.60 this season with Fraker, Goodale, Johnson and Christopher, who ran two individual events at conference to take advantage of scoring opportunities.

Goodale also returned from a recent leg muscle injury, and only ran the one race. Similarly, he returned at conference last year and then helped Platte County’s 4×400 turn in solid performances at Class 5 District 8 and Class 5 Sectional 4 before setting the school record with the fastest-time in the state preliminaries.

Also held out early this season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, Johnson came in first in the 110-meter hurdles with a career-best mark of 15.37 and then finished second to Raytown junior Jaeden Davis in the 300 hurdles. Johnson went under 40 seconds for the second time in his career and first since a season debut of 39.54 nearly a month earlier.

While not finishing the meet as planned, Fraker ran the anchor leg of the opening 4×800 to help pull Platte County back into first. The Pirates put sophomore Nick Flowers and senior Ethan Smith into the lineup for the longest relay along with Jackson and Fraker, who took the baton in second and made up ground before cursing around Raytown sophomore Josiah Smith to earn the win.

Platte County finished in 8:26.03 but have run as fast as 8:00.82 this season with Jenks and junior Blake Herron running legs. Jenks (career-best 4:26.87) outraced Herron (4:30.25) to give the Pirates a sweep of the top two spots in the 1,600, and both ran later in the 800 to give the Pirates a shot at three medals from that event in addition to the 4×800 victory that showed the depth of the long-distance program.

Jackson pulled away late in the 800 to win in a career-best 1:59.14, while Jenks (fourth, 2:04.37) and Herron (fifth, 2:04.46).

In addition, Platte County and Grain Valley each put three entrants into the 3,200 to account for all six runners in the event. The Pirates went 2-3-5 to earn an even split of the 36 team points awarded with freshman Landon McKinzie in second (10:34.49), Smith in third (10:36.04) and freshman Tate Stone in fifth (10:52.41) — all career-best times.

In addition to victories in the 100 and 4×100, Stevens added a third-place finish for Platte County in the long jump, taking just one attempt and posting a mark of 6.12 meters, and junior Dany Biganiro also finished third in the triple jump at 12.75 meters.

Platte County junior Cale Buntz posted the best field event placement, coming in second with a mark of 47.51 meters in the javelin. Fort Osage senior Isaac Woodward took the conference title at 55.68. In addition to the runnerup showing, the Pirates received a sixth-place finish from sophomore Barrett Ryan with his career-best mark of 41.74 meters in the discus.