Platte County continues to follow the lead of a pair of senior three-time state qualifiers but have also started to see the development in the rest of the lineup. In Saturday’s Raymore-Peculiar Invitational, the Pirates finished third out of 19 teams in the Large School standings with a total of 94 after sophomore Landon McKinzie, senior Elijah Jackson and sophomore Tate Stone all finishing within 24 seconds of each other at Raymore-Peculiar High School in Peculiar.
Platte County sophomore Tate Stone runs in the Raymore-Peculiar Invitational on Saturday at Raymore-Peculiar High School in Peculiar.
Nixa ran away with the team title, putting five runners in the top 11, while Blue Valley Northwest (Kansas) came in second at 84.
Platte County senior Blake Herron finished in the top five for a third straight meet, matching his best placement of the season. He came in fourth at 16 minutes, 20.60 seconds, while senior Donavin Ness ended up with a medal as well, earning the No. 7 spot at 17:04.10. Both have been part of the Pirates’ last three qualifying teams for the Class 4 MSHSAA Cross Country Championships.
This year, Platte County must prepare for a move up to Class 5 for the postseason and a more difficult path.
McKinzie and Jackson also have prior state experience and were Platte County’s third and fourth runners on Saturday. McKinzie came in 19th (17:50.00), while Jackson closely followed in 22nd (17.53.80). A two-time state qualifier, Jackson posted his first official time of the season after losing his electronic timing chip as the Pirates’ No. 6 finisher in the season-opening Tim Nixon Invitational and missing the previous weekend’s Pella Invitational in Iowa due to a conflict with the ACT test.
Platte County sophomore Tate Stone rounded out Platte County’s scoring runners, placing 28th in 18:03.10. For the second straight week, the Pirates were only able to enter seven in the varsity lineup with juniors Nick Flowers (32nd, 18:15.00) and Zarren Moore (56th, 19:32.90) the others to compete.
There were no PRs for Platte County on Saturday, mostly due to the fast track in Liberty for the Tim Nixon Invitational in late August. The Pirates next take the course at home Thursday for the Judge “Chris” Stubbs Invitational at Platte Ridge Park. Last season, excessive heat forced the cancelation of the event, but the school moved the start times to the morning in an effort to avoid any weather concerns.
