The cross country season got underway with local athletes racing at Capitol Federal Sports Complex in Liberty for the Tim Nixon Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 30.
West Platte junior Caroline Ransome and Platte County senior Blake Herron turned in impressive performances to begin the new season. Ransome took first in the varsity silver girls division while Herron finished fourth in the varsity gold boys division.
West Platte junior Caroline Ransome finished first among the varsity silver girls division.
Ransome was the only runner in her division to complete the 5,000-meter course in under 19 minutes, running it in 18 minutes, 59.3 seconds to beat out the runner-up by about 18 seconds.
She led the West Platte ladies team to a second-place finish in varsity silver — behind only Kearney — as Katherine Carletti finished ninth with Payton Reber and Addison Bailey also getting into the top 20. Charles Trease was the top finisher for the boys of West Platte, finishing 13th in varsity silver with a time of 17:34.2.
Herron led Platte County to a top-four finish with a 5K time of 15:47.7 in varsity gold. For the girls team, Tyler Stambersky finished 12th.
Platte County senior Blake Herron started the season with a fourth-place finish in varsity gold.
Park Hill South’s Madilynn Conklin.
Park Hill South’s boys team finished fourth in varsity gold, led by top-20 runners Cole James and Simon Ketter. Senior Madilynn Conklin was the highlight of the girls team as a seventh-place finisher.
North Platte’s Chloe Heckman.
For North Platte, the boys team came in eighth with William Schaffart and Trey Heckman earning top-20 finishes. The North Platte girls sent two girls to compete in Liberty last weekend, including fifth-place varsity silver finisher Chloe Heckman.
The Park Hill boys were led by Colton Hardy (16:41) while the girls were junior Stella Grothaus (22:52).