​Boys take second, girls finish fourth at home meet

by Michael Smith


The Grain Valley boys cross country team could be a contender for a state trophy in 2023.
It proved that could be the case in Saturday’s Grain Valley Sock It To Cancer Invitational at
Grain Valley North Middle School.

The Eagles hung tough with some bigger schools in the Pink Division, including Raymore-Peculiar and Blue Springs. They finished in second place out of seven teams with 35 points. The Panthers edged Grain Valley with a first-place score of 33.

Senior Rylan Smith led the way by finishing in third place with a time of 16:21.70. The winner was Blue Springs senior Keagan Enicks, who finished in 16:05.

Smith said the team tried a new strategy which involved them starting out 10 seconds slower at the beginning to have more energy at the end. It seemed to have paid off.

“We wanted to see if we had a lot more to give,” Smith said. “I thought I did OK.”

Junior Landon Barnes has formed a strong duo with Smith and he was a big contributor to Grain Valley’s sparkling team score. He finished sixth at 16:50.30.

“I felt pretty good in this race, especially mentally,” Barnes said.

Rounding out the top five for the Eagles were Adrian Bobzien in seventh (17:05.90), David Roberson in eighth (17:19.40) and Landon Blew in 11th (17:34.10).

“We have a really solid squad,” Smith said. “I am really glad I get to run with these boys. We have had a pretty good team. Last time I checked we were ranked seventh (in the Class 5 team rankings on MO Mile Split’s website).”

Girls
The Grain Valley girls team finished fourth out of five teams in the Pink Division with 72 points.

Blue Springs won with 34 points.

Jordan Gossage led the Eagles with an eighth-place finish, earning a time of 21:33.80.

“I felt like I could have done a little better, but I don’t feel like I did bad,” Gossage said. “This is a pretty tough course.”

Rounding out the top five for the girls were Amyah Graybill (12th, 22:21.80), Clara DeMoro (16th, 22:56), Kayley Bell (18th, 23:08.90) and Emma Blew (24th, 23:54.50).

​“We tried to stay as close together as possible,” Gossage said. “We try to stick together and push each other through it. It’s a little easier running with a teammate.”

Grain Valley junior Jordan Gossage led the girls team with an eighth-place finish at 21:33.80 during the Grain Valley Sock It to Cancer Invitational Saturday at Grain Valley North Middle School. The girls took fourth place as a team with 72 points. Photo credit: Michael Smith

Grain Valley senior Rylan Smith, left, and junior Landon Barnes led the boys team with third- and sixth-place finishes respectively at the Grain Valley Sock it to Cancer Invitational at Grain Valley North Middle School. The boys took second place as a team with 35 points. Photo credit: Michael Smith