​Four Eagles earn all-state honors at final meet

by Michael Smith



For nearly the entire season, Grain Valley sophomore Alyssa Carver was dominant in the pole vault.

She won nearly every event she was in and was third in the Class 5 Sectional 2 meet and came in as the No. 5 seed for the Missouri State High School Track and Field Championships.

In her first-ever appearance at the state meet, she proved she one of the best vaulters in the state as she placed fourth, earning all-state honors Friday at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City.

She was one of four Grain Valley competitors to earn all-state honors, which are given to competitors who finish in the top eight of their event. Junior Izabella West took sixth in the triple jump, sophomore Blayden Pruett was sixth in the Javelin and sophomore Jason Wilson was first in the discus and shot put and second in the 100-meter race in the para division.

Carver said she was pleased overall with how well she did at state as she got a height of 11 feet, 1 inch, which was 11 inches shorter than the state champion.

“I didn’t (set a personal record), but I am not mad about how I did,” she said. “I jumped what I have been jumping consistently. I am proud of the way I ended. It was the nice way to end the season.

She added that she has come a long way since the beginning of the season.

“From last year and the beginning the season, I have been doing a lot of training to improve my strength,” she said. “I have been working on having a strong plant and I have been getting on the bigger poles. That has helped add three inches to my height.”

West just started going the triple jump midway through the season after experimenting with multiple other events during practice.

Turns out that she is one of the best at the event as she got a distance of 35 feet, 11 inches.

“We had some first-year coaches who helped her get through and learn the technique,” Grain Valley girls head coach Nick Small said. “It’s pretty impressive to see them learn together in the final half of the season. Things started clicking at the end.

“She was ranked 12th going in. She really stepped up. She got after it. She had been doing the long jump and we knew she had some pop in her. We had her try an event for (junior varsity) to start and she ended up doing pretty well.”

Like West, Pruett competed in an event, the javelin, for the first-time this season and ended up being one of the best.

She unleashed a throw of 167 feet, 9 inches, which set a school record for the event on the boys side. The previous record was held by Ethan Macoubrie in 2018 when he had a throw of 163 feet, 3 inches.

“I am very proud of my finish,” Pruett said. “Some of the people I thought were doing to do better, didn’t do as well, so I ended up pulling through.”

Improving his footwork was the major key, Pruett added.

“I was really focused on my steps today,” he said. “It worked and helped a lot.

“I am looking forward to doing this in the long run.”

Jason Wilson, who uses a wheel chair due to spina bofida, competed in three different para events and was all-state in all three. He was first in the shot put (14 feet, 8,75 inches), first in the discus (48 feet, 4 inches) and he was second in the 100-meter dash (30.40 seconds).

“He threw really well in both and (set a personal record) in both,” boys track coach Erik Stone said. “He had a really good day. He’s just a sophomore and had a lot of fun with it. It was a learning experience for him the coaches. I am looking forward to pretty good growth the next couple of years.”

​Others to compete for Grain Valley were junior Stylz Blackmon, who was 16th with a throw of 45 feet, 6.25 inches and the 4x800 relay team of Carson Hill, Nathan Allen, Landon Barnes and Rylan Smith. They finished in 15th with a time of 8:09.49.