In a track meet packed with elite talent from Missouri and Kansas, Park Hill South junior Thomas Garrett emerged as one of the top individual performers, earning two gold medals at the 2025 Ken Peek Invitational held Friday, April 25 at Liberty North High School.
Garrett was South’s only gold medalist, and one of just four boys at the meet to win multiple events. He claimed victories in both the 1600-meter run (4:14.40) and the 3200-meter run (9:25.16). Garrett edged Mill Valley’s Carter Cline by just a second to take gold in the 1600, then won the 3200 by an impressive 11-second margin.
LaNicia Parker earned a second-place spot on the medal stand with a silver medal in the 300m hurdles. South also had success in the triple jump, where seniors Audrey Steitz and Marcel Milner earned second-place medals.
Of all four schools competing, Platte County finished the highest among the four local schools with a sixth-place finish for the boys and a ninth-place finish for the girls.
Senior runner Joshua Fraker blazed onto the gold medal stand following a first-place finish in the 800m run, finishing in 1:55.07 to set a new school record.
For the Platte County boys, the 4x200m relay finished second while junior javelin thrower Cale Buntz and 3200m senior runner Tanner Jenks each finished third. On the girls side, junior 100m hurdler Adi Benninghoff and senior discus thrower Addyson Schlake earned third place.
North Platte also tested itself against some of the best competition it could possibly face before the conference meets on May 2.
The girls 4x400m relay finished second while senior Lindsey Ramsey finished third in the 800m run. North Platte also achieved five top-10 finishes in events that spanned as many as 46 competitors for a single event.
Park Hill finished 11th among boys and 13th among girls. The Trojans’ 4x400 boys relay - made of Dontae Bronson, Owen Koski, Alex Haley and Miles McFarland - was their brightest spot, finishing in third place behind St. Thomas Aquinas and Nixa.
The Trojans totaled 15 other top-10 finishes, highlighted by fourth-place showings from the boys and girls 4x200m relays, senior long jumpers Landen Julson and Fedrick Marshall Jr., and senior Desi Holbrook in the girls 400m dash.
Nixa captured the boys team title with 112 points, while Liberty won the girls division with 92 points.
