Eagles Dominate In Home Meet

​by John Unrein

​     The Grain Valley Eagle Cross Country Teams got their season underway with a dominant showing during their home meet at Grain Valley North Middle School on August 31st. The boys and girls teams each took first place with scores of 21 and 20 points respectively.
     Both Eagles teams placed five of the top seven runners in the meet. Teams competing at the meet included Grain Valley, Fort Osage, Excelsior Springs, and Cameron.
     The two-mile course with gradual slopes ran fast despite wet conditions.
     The lowest score of the top five runners for each team determines the outcome. Michael Reddick of Fort Osage was the overall boy’s winner with a time of 10:58. Close behind him for the Eagles were second place finisher Junior Collin Clemens at 11:11, third place finisher Senior Jaxson Jarman at 11:33, fourth place finisher Senior Jake Sanders at 11:44, fifth place finisher Sophomore Mason McCain at 11:49, and seventh place finisher Sophomore Isaac Burd at 12:10.
     Grain Valley Sophomore Ella Casey continued her ascent as a runner from her strong showing last year. She was the girls overall race winner with a time of 13:22. That was 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher for the girls in what was stout display of running.
     Rounding out the other top five Eagles finishers were third place finisher Freshman Lexie Nicholson at 14:07, fourth place finisher Junior Valerie Holcomb at 14:10, fifth place finisher Freshman Peyton Bell at 14:20, and seventh place finisher Junior Annalynn Earley at 14:50.
     Head Cross Country Coach Nick Small was encouraged by the performance of his kids.
     “This was a great opportunity to get to see how the work they have been putting in from the end of Track season through the summer to now has led to some early season success. It was nice to get a team championship on both sides and we are looking forward to continuing to develop through the season as we now turn to our five-kilometer schedule,” Small said.
     “On the girl’s side, aside from another great performance from Ella Casey, Freshman Lexie Nicholson had a fantastic race. We are very excited about her potential moving forward. For the boys, honestly, we had a solid performance all around.”
     The Eagles Cross Country Team returns to action on Saturday, September 7th at 8:00 am during the Cross Country Invitational at Liberty North High School.
 

Eagles runners push the pace of race.        
Pictured front left: Junior Collin Clemens. Center: Sophomore Mason McCain.            
Photo credit: Valley News staff
 

Assistant Cross Country Coach Brian Winckler encourages runners a half mile from the finish line.         
Photo credit: Valley News staff