PIRATES SET RECORDS AT MEC MEET

It was an end of an era for the Platte County track teams May 3, as the Pirates hosted the final Midland Empire Conference meet in Platte City . Platte County , which will compete in the Suburban Conference next year, set several new conference records and one school record during the meet.

Chillicothe won the boys competition with 138 points, followed by Smithville (127), Cameron (122), Maryville (114.5) and Platte County (98). Lafayette (61), Benton (27) and Savannah (11.5) rounded out the scoring.

Placing in the top five were Alex Cooper, first place in the 3,200-meter run; Dustin Menk, first in the 300 hurdles with a conference record of 39.56 seconds and second in the 110 hurdles; the 800 relay team of Marccus Spearman, Karim Tanus, Kaleb Sherry and Menk, first with a conference record of 1:31.67; Zach Gifford, second in the 1,600; the 1,600 relay team of Menk, Tim Dewey, Colin Henion and Sherry, third place; Spearman, fourth in the 200; the 400 relay team of Spearman, Tanus, Sherry and Kenny Lightner, fourth; the 3,200 relay team of Eli Tylski, Cooper, Ethan McLean and Gifford, fourth; Ryan Williams, fourth in the discus; Matt Rhodes, fourth in the pole vault; and John Dang, fifth in the pole vault.

Maryville won the girls competition for the second straight year with 150.83 points, followed by Chillicothe (147.33) and Platte County (112.5). The rest of the field included Smithville (106.33), St. Joseph Benton (86.5), St. Joseph Lafayette (41), Savannah (38) and Cameron (11.5).

Rachel McCollum cleared 9-feet, 7-inches in the pole vault and set a new school and conference record in the event, which she won. Also placing in the top five for Platte County in the meet were Ashton Stubbs, first in the 800 and 1,600; Chandrika Brewton, first in the triple jump and third in the high jump and long jump; Samantha Elliott, second in the 100 and fourth in the 200; the 400 relay team of Taylor Wilhelm, Elliott, Brewton and Allyssa Jackson, second; the 800 team of Wilhelm, Jackson, Brelann Lawler and Elliott, third; the 3,200 relay team of Elle Jenkins, Page, Jessica Gonzalez and Stubbs, third; Lawler, third in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the 110 hurdles; the 1,600 relay team of Wilhelm, Jaimie Paige, Kaleigh Hayes and Lawler, fifth; and Tiffany Ryun, fifth place tie in the shot put.

The Pirates were scheduled to compete in the Benton Relays May 6 before starting the postseason with the Class 3 District 8 meet May 10 at Excelsior Springs. The sectional meet will be in Kearney May 17 and the state meet will be in Jefferson City May 23-24.

For the full story see this week's issue.