Max Davies picked up his second individual victory of the year and the biggest of his career.
BREANNA L. CHEADLE/Special to the Citizen
West Platte junior Max Davies approaches the finish line in the West Platte Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Platte Ridge Park near Platte City. He finished fifth but won the KCI Conference individual championship, leading the Bluejays to the team title.
West Platte’s continually improving sophomore came in fifth in the West Platte Invitational held Saturday, Oct. 15 at Platte Ridge Park outside of Platte City, but the meet also doubled as the KCI Conference Championship. He topped the league runners and won the KCI title in 18 minutes, 1 second — leading a trio of all-conference finishers for the Bluejays.
West Platte junior Andy Cicha came in third in the KCI standings, while freshman Phillip Pattison grabbed the next-to-last all-conference spot. The Bluejays ended up with a team total of 49 points and edged Hamilton for the team title by two points.
Davies became the fourth individual KCI champion in program history, joining Spencer Hudson (2012), Jack Cogan (2013) and Braxton Hill (2014). The Bluejays have won three of the five team titles (2012, 2013 and 2016) since the race started in 2012.
On the same course, Davies ran an 18:59 during the Platte County Invitational a month earlier.
Davies finished just behind a pair of runners from Kansas City Lutheran in the overall field, and West Platte’s top three were fifth, 15th and 27th with Pattison setting a new personal record at 19:41.5. The Bluejays ended up third in the team standings with a 121 — 13 behind Lutheran but two in front of Hamilton, six in front of Kansas City East and eight in front of Lawson.
Platte County’s junior varsity competed and came in seventh with 144 points. Peter Doole led the Pirates in 25th.
North Platte did not have an all-conference finisher, placed 12th out of 15 teams overall and sixth out of seven KCI teams. Tyler Meadows was 19th in the KCI field for the Panthers, three spots back of West Platte’s Connor McNair.
BREANNA L. CHEADLE
Special to The Citizen
North Platte junior McKenna Fulton finsihes her race at the West Platte Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Platte Ridge Park near Platte City.
On the girls side, North Platte finished fifth out of six KCI teams, but junior McKenna Fulton — a recent addition after the end of the softball season — grabbed the final all-conference spot in 10th at 23:14. She was 12th overall and helped the Panthers to fourth out of 10 in the West Platte Invitational standings.
Shelby Fisher, a junior, came in 25th for North Platte while junior Bailee Romaker and freshman Savannah Lingle were back-to-back in 33rd and 34th to help the team finish.
West Platte didn’t have a full team, and sophomore Lea Moose (16th overall, 12th KCI) and junior Rachel Heili (23rd overall, 16th KCI) were the top finishers and just missed all-conference honors for the Bluejays. Both also recently started practice after the end of the softball season.