Eagles cross country to rebuild in 2025

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News

The Grain Valley boys and girls cross country teams will be going through a rebuilding phase in 2025.

On the boys side, the Eagles graduated three runners, including state qualifier Landon Barnes, who finished in 20th place in the Class 5 District 4 meet. The girls side also saw three graduates depart the team, including Amyah Graybill, who also was a state qualifier as she finished in 26th at districts.

Head cross country coach Nick Small said a good number of new runners will be competing in varsity meets this season. So far through the summer, there have been about 20 boys and 20 girls participating in workouts, which gives Small plenty of options to place in the top five spots for varsity meets.

“With the number of runners we lost from last year, we have a solid number of kids coming out,” Small said.
“We got a couple of kids from the middle school level, and we recruited some kids who played other sports.
We’re excited about those kids. There are a lot of new faces. We have a lot of exciting young and new talent.”

Senior Landon Blew will be one of the main returners on the boys side as he was just five places away from qualifying for the state meet last season. At the Class 5 District 4 meet, he finished 35th with a time of 16:58.11.

Small said Blew has embraced the role of being the leader of the boys team and has showed up to every practice and has worked hard over the summer.

“He’s always here and does what he needs to.,” Small said. “Even when he goes on a family vacation, I know he’s going to get his stuff in. He’s bought in. He does all the little things.”

Blew said qualifying for state will be his primary goal coming into 2025.

“I am not fixated on a time,” Blew said. “This year, I have been building up mileage a bit more and have been hitting faster paces on workouts.”

Other boys that are likely to be a part of the varsity lineup throughout the season include freshman Andrew Mueller and sophomores Colby Sinn and Jackson Edwards.

“We got sophomores on the team and they are looking really strong,” Blew said. “I think the team is going to be good this year. Colby and Andrew have been having a good offseason. They have been killing it.”

On the girls side, it will mostly be new faces entering the lineup, including junior Emily Hooper and freshman Evelyn Hay.

Hay said she was a runner for the middle school team and has enjoyed competing in the sport and is looking forward to the high school season.

“I just like running, and I think it’s good exercise,” Hay said. “And I like the community and team building in cross country. My goal this year run my best and keep pushing myself.”

Hooper is a soccer player and also runs in sprint events for the track and field team. She said it has been a big adjustment going from short- to long-distance running, but she has recently started getting the hang of it.

“I had to get used to running longer distances,” Hooper said. “At the beginning, it felt like I could barely run a mile. Now I run four to five miles a day.”

Junior Emma Blew should also be a part of the top five for the girls and there will be others competing for the two vacant varsity sports.

​“We’re bringing in a lot of fresh talent on the girls’ side,” Small said. “It’s a fun team. We are filled with a lot of cool kids. The girls are a very cohesive group. Since there are so many new girls, there is a progression level that needs to be made, and they bought into that.”

​Grain Valley senior Landon Blew will be aiming to qualify for the Missouri State High School Cross Country Championships in 2025. Photo credit: Michael Smith

Junior Emily Hooper, left, and freshman Evelyn Hay are two newcomers who are likely to crack the varsity lineup you the Grain Valley cross country team. Photo credit: Michael Smith
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