Eagles Swim and Dive on the rise going into state meet

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 

The Grain Valley swimming and diving team is on the rise.
 
Head coach Julie Reilly said the team has had more members than it ever had in 2025 with 17 swimmers.
 
The Eagles have also experienced a lot of success this season as they qualified eight competitors in seven different events for the Missouri State High School Swimming and Diving Championships beginning Thursday at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.
 
Senior Gage Wright, junior Morgan Brown and freshman Colton English all qualified in the 1-meter diving event; senior Haden Harshman will be competing in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events; Connor Osburn made it to state in the 200-meter individual medley; and Grain Valley qualified its 200 medley, 200 free and 400 free relay teams for the state event.
 
Wright is leading the way for Grain Valley as he is a returning state champion in the 1-meter diving event and he could also possibly compete in the 200 and 400 free relay events.
 
Last season, he won the state diving event with a score of 409.15. This season, he’s even made a bigger leap.
 
Wright broke his own school record and the all-time Greater Kansas City Suburban Conference 11-dive event at the Suburban Conference Championships on Oct. 29 with a score of 546. He also had the highest score of anyone in the state at the Class 1 District 4 diving event with a score of 496.60.
 
Earlier this season, he broke the school 6-dive record on Senior Night in a dual against Blue Springs South with a score of 296.6.
 
“It wasn’t really on my goal sheets,” Wright said of breaking the conference record. “It’s a really cool record to see fall. I am focused on individual technique and improvement.
 
Wright and head coach Julie Reilly said the work the senior has put in year round has led to his success. He works at the Blue Springs South Aquatics Center and works on his diving whenever he has a chance. He also dives for his club team in the offseason.
 
“He’s so committed to his diving,” Reilly said. He works here, so when he is on a break, he is diving. The degree of difficulty for the dives he does has gone up 10 fold since last year. He has some dives that are amazing.”
 
Some of those new dives include the inward 2 ½ and my reverse 1 ½ twist. Increasing the difficulty of his dives have led to even higher scores than Wright had last season.
 
“I went to a new swimming and diving club and I have focused a lot on improving my technique,” Wright said. “I have worked on improving lines and making everything look cleaner and smoother. That has really helped with consistency and improving my (personal record).”
 
Wright also has helped other divers improve, too. He’s been a mentor to English, who qualified for the state diving event by finishing in fourth place at districts with a score of 338.45. He also helped Brown qualify as he finished seventh at districts with a score of 258.45.
 
“I think he’s in a really good spot to make finals,” Wright said of English. “I have been working with him since the start of the year. It was really nice to see him come in as a freshman and have a really good foundation. I have been working with him since the start of the year. We have been working on takeoffs and head position.”
 
Added Reilly: “Colton English is a Gage in the making. He practices all the time. He’s been diving outside just for the team. He is probably a little bit in a better position than Gage was in his freshman year.”
 
Harshman has led the way for the swimmers as he set personal bests in almost every swimming event, including the 50 and 100 free. He will also be competing in the 200 and 400 free relay teams with Wright, Osburn and sophomore Rush Buxton.
 
The 200 free relay team has the best chance of earning an all-state honor, which is earned by the top 16 finishers. The team is currently seeded 18th with a time of 1:35.09.
 
Harshman also has a good chance of earning all-state honors (given to the top 16 finishers in each event) for the first time in his high school career in the 50 and 100 free as he is currently seeded 10th and 15th, respectively.
 
“I feel like I improved a lot more than I did last year and I am excited to see what I can do at state. My kick under water is a lot better,” Harshman said. “Going into this season, we didn’t know how well our relays would do. We lost one of our sprinters from last year – Asa Kiem. We got some new kids and they have really pulled through.”
 
Osburn will be competing in his first individual event at state as he is seeded 22nd in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.04.
 
“I couldn’t even get a state consideration time last year,” Osburn said. “This year I qualified for the 200 IM. I had to lose 25 pounds. Swimming has really put me into shape.”
 
The preliminary swimming events will start at noon on Thursday and the diving event will be at 4:30 p.m. the same day.