Max Davies made the most of his final KCI Conference meet on Saturday, April 27.
The West Platte senior, who is set to join the military after graduation, won a trio of championships for the Bluejays, which placed third in the eight-team meet held at North Platte in Dearborn.
West Platte and North Platte each had a pair of two-time winners on the girls’ side, which the Bluejays took second overall and the Panthers were tied for sixth.
Davies won the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs — a total of 14 laps. In the 1,600, he finished in 4:51.39, a 16-second victory ahead of Lawson’s Grady Blair. Davies had a three-second winning margin in the 800 (2:07.83), beating Blair again. In his final race KCI race and the penultimate event of the day, Davies won the 3,200 in 10:23.62, beating Blair by more than 14 seconds.
In the first race of the day, Davies ran the final leg of the 4x800-meter relay team that took third. Also on that squad was Matik Heskin, Drake Stelljes and Zach Howerton.
West Platte had a trio of runner-up finishes on the day: Ryan Borylo (high jump), Stelljes (400) and Cole Vandel (300).
North Platte’s only top three finish came in the 4x100-meter relay with Matthew Carter, Chase Chesnut, Ty French and Chance Chesnut running 46.43. North Platte’s boys were seventh overall in the field.
GIRLS
CLINTON COUNTY LEADER
North Platte’s Haley Sampson was part of a 4x200-meter relay team that won a KCI Conference championship on Saturday, April 27.
MiKenna Peters was the champion in both hurdle events for West Platte. The sophomore ran 15.96 to win the 100-meter hurdles and took the 300 crown in 50.35. She added a third in the triple jump.
Missouri-bound Hannah McGivern ran 12.97 to easily win the 100-meter dash for the Bluejays, as runner-up Hannah Ballard of Lathrop crossed in 13.22.
McGivern helped the 4x100-meter relay team run the second fastest time in school history at 51.58, just off its 51.50 school-record mark set earlier in the week. She ran the final leg, with Gretchen Raney, Daire Stelljes and Faith Stevens also running in the event.
Maddie O’Neill won two individual events for North Platte and was part of two relay teams that were the KCI champions.
The 4x200 team of O’Neill, Trinity Wrightfield, Haley Sampson and Madi Debord finished in 1:49.40, while West Platte came in second at 1:49.42. The Bluejays had McGivern, Gretchen Raney, Gracie Raney and Tori Norman running on their relay.
In the 4x400-meter relay race, O’Neill ran the first leg, followed by Wrightfield, Gracie Ramsey and Sampson that won in 4:21.80.
O’Neill, a sophomore, won the 400 in 1:00.57, while Sampson was third in that event. In the 200 dash, O’Neill took first in 26.74, while McGivern placed third.
West Platte got a runner-up finish from Lea Moose in the pole vault and thirds from Lexie Smither (long jump) and Amanda Lowell (shot put).
West Platte took third in two relays — the 4x400 and 4x800. The 4x400 featured Moose, Ashlynne Crockett, Stelljes and Peters. The 4x800 had Katie Tharp, Moose, Sophia Rush and Lindsay Goodwin.
Bishop LeBlond Invitational
For the first time this season, West Platte didn’t sweep the team titles in an event. Coming at Eagle Field in St. Joseph, both Bluejays teams placed second in the 16-team field.
The Trenton girls won the team title with 134 points, while West Platte had 113. On the boys’ side, Lathrop rolled up 164 points, while West Platte had 111 ½ points. The field featured seven KCI Conference schools, two from the Midland Empire Conference and the rest from the Grand River Conference.
North Platte boys were eighth in the standings, a spot higher than the girls.
In the combined team totals, Lathrop won with 255 points, while West Platte was second with 224 ½ points.
The headline result in the meet locally was the West Platte girls 4x100-meter relay team of Gretchen Raney, Daire Stelljes, Faith Stevens and Hannah McGivern winning in 51.50 seconds – breaking the school record of 52.77 set at the state championship last year.
McGivern, a Missouri softball signee, won the 100 dash, while Mikenna Peters won the 100 and 300 hurdles in 16.14 and 47.65, respectively.
North Platte’s lone win came in the 4x200-meter relay with the quartet of Haley Sampson, Trinity Wrightfield, Madi Deboard and Maddie O’Neill running 1:49.67, beating West Platte, which ran 1:49.92, which featured Raney, Gracie Raney, Tori Norman and McGivern.
The trio of Sampson, Wrightfield, O’Neill and Grace Ramsey were second in the 4x400 relay.
West Platte got thirds from Gracie Raney (200) and the 4x800 team of Katie Tharp, Katie Groom, Sophia Rush and Lindsay Goodwin.
BOYS
Max Davies picked up wins in two events for West Platte, winning the 800 (2:03.64) and the 1,600 (4:43.37), while Drake Stelljes added a win for the Bluejays in the 400 (53.98).
Rylan Richardson was the runner-up in the javelin, with teammate Zach Scroggins taking third.
West Platte had a pair of runners-up in relays in the 4x400 (Stelljes, Zach Howerton, Cole Vandel and Quinn O’Malley and the 4x800 (Howerton, Davies, Matik Heskin and Isaac Helmich), while North Platte’s 4x200 team of Aiden Williams, Isaac Williams, Caden Wirt and Jacob Wright was also second.
Stelljes, O’Malley, Vandel and Ryan Borylo took third in the 4x200, while Vandel added a third in the triple jump. Ty French took third in the 800 run for North Platte.
UP NEXT
West Platte and North Platte will compete in the Class 2 District 7 meet at Rudolph Eskridge Stadium in Weston on Saturday, May 4.
The preliminary races start at 10:15 a.m. with the finals running events at noon – with the exception of the 4x800-meter relays that will be the fourth and fifth races of the day. Field events will start at 9:30 a.m.
The other teams there will be Bishop LeBlond, Carrollton, East Buchanan, Lathrop, Lexington, Mid-Buchanan, Hamilton, Polo and South Harrison.