Platte County netted a pair of district runner-up plaques from the Class 4 District 8 track and field championships held Saturday, May 12, at Excelsior Springs High School.

The Pirates came in behind Suburban Conference foe Kearney, which won with 199 points on the boys side and 190 ½ on the girls side. Platte County had 183 and 139 ½, respectively.

Platte County will compete in the Class 4 Sectional 4 meet this Saturday, May 19, at Odessa High School. The meet will start at 10 a.m. The top four finishers in each event will punch a ticket to the Missouri state championships the following weekend in Jefferson City.

Thom Hanrahan/Special to The Citizen
Platte County’s Erin Straubel runs in the Class 4 District 8 championships on Saturday, May 12 at Excelsior Springs High School.

“We had a few more we would have liked to get through but for the most part we did what we were supposed to do,” Platte County coach Gabe Middleton said. “Sectionals will be a lot tougher and we have to be ready to compete.”

The boys had eight district champions, while the girls had three.

Three of the wins for the Platte County boys came in the field events. Jacob Laures jumped 13 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault to win. Jon Watts jumped 22-6 ½ in the long jump to take first, while Michael Smith threw 48-10 in the shot put.

The Pirates won the 4x800- and 4x400-meter relays and both teams features Evan McPhatter and Keegan Cordova. On the 4x800, the duo joined Devin Richardson and Jackson Letcher to cross in 8 minutes, 30.75 seconds and won by 26 seconds ahead of Kearney.

McPhatter, Cordova, Watts and Matthew Phillips took first in the 4x400 at 3:29.70.

Cordova, a junior, took first in the 800 (1:57.56) and set a new school record in the process. Missouri Southern-bound Watts won a second district individual title in the 400 (50.89).

Will Hay won the 300-meter hurdles in 41.39, a two-tenths of a second win ahead of Hunter Gray of Kearney. Hay added a second in the 110 hurdles, the same event David Pecha took fourth.

Platte County had multiple sectional qualifiers in the pole vault, shot put, 400 and 800 as well.

Kevin Fagan was third in the shot put and McPhatter was third in the 800. Carleton Hall took fourth in the pole vault, while Phillips placed fourth in the 400.

The Pirates had a pair of runner-up finishes on the boys side. Nick Bjustrom was second in the 3,200, after placing fourth in the 1,600.

Scott Englert/KCPrepReport.com
Platte County’s Carter Utt runs in the 100-meter dash at the Class 4 District 8 Track and field championships at Excelsior Springs High School in Excelsior Springs, Mo.

The 4x100 team of Blake Reynolds, Spencer Cupp, Dakota Schmidt and Julian Palmore was second.

Reynolds and Palmore joined Phillips and Watts on the 4x200 team that was third. Reynolds was third in the 200.

In the field events, Schmidt added a third in the javelin and Peyton Stoner was third in the discus. Schmidt broke his school record in the event again, this time with a heave of 163-4.

Underclassmen accounted for two of the three titles for the girls.

Freshman Haley Luna won the 400 dash in 1:01.94, while sophomore Isabelle Geddes won the 100 hurdles in 15.84, jumping up from a fourth-place standing after the prelims.

Erin Straubel, a senior, won the 3,200 for Platte County in 11:50.87, posting a nine-second victory. In the same race, Lauren Johnson placed fourth to advance.

Straubel was the runner-up in the 1,600.

Geddes and Luna were part of the 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams that were second.

In the 4x200, the two were joined by Karleigh Wise and Britteanna Curry, while Wise and Abbie Schwieder were on the 4x400. The 4x200 team was .02 away from tying the school record.

Geddes added a runner-up finish in the 300 as well.

In the 4x800, Platte County’s team of Kaylee Major, Haylie Jerome, Lindsay Johnson and Mycah Schmitt was third.

Three events moved on in the field events. Schwieder was the runner-up in the pole vault after losing a tiebreaker with a 9-6 clearance.

In the shot put, Jaycie Stubbs was third and Hayden Walls was fourth, while Addison Long was fourth in the javelin.