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by Michael Smith With one runner out sick and the other out with an injury, the Grain Valley boys track and field teams needed two substitutes for the 4x400-meter relay. Enter Nathan Allen and Rylan Smith. That duo joined Keagan Hart and Chase Anderson in the event and stepped up big time when the Eagles needed it in Wednesday’s Suburban White Conference Championships at William Chrisman High School. The team finished in first place with a time of 3:32.53 as the win gave Grain Valley a boost to finish in first place as a team with 126 points. Platte County was second with 100 and Raytown was third with 82. The Grain Valley girls team took second place with 122.5 points. Platte County was first with 139.5. “They stepped up pretty big,” Grain Valley boys head coach Erik Stone said of the substitutes. “We had a kid who was sick and gutted out three races earlier. We thought we’d plug another guy in there and we had two guys who hadn’t run the race for us in varsity this year. Rylan had a split of 52 high, which is pretty respectable after the workload he had today. Our guys are really good stepping up and embracing the team concept.” Despite having two runners who hadn’t competed in the event all season, the chemistry was still on point, Allen said. “The people we filled in for are absolutely phenomenal runners,” Allen said. “We wanted to come in and give Grain Valley a good name. We did pretty well. I am proud of our team. We gave it all for our team and that helped us push through.” Smith also came up huge for the Eagles by winning the 800-meter run. He finished nearly 4 seconds in front of the second-place finisher with a time of 2:00.93 despite feel fatigue near the end. “I got to the 600 mark pretty fast,” Smith said. “The last 200, my body started to feel it and my posture fell apart at the end. I was hoping to get under (2 minutes) but I got 2 (minutes) flat. I didn’t (get a personal record) today, but I was close.” Junior Stylz Blackmon was one of three Eagles to win field events Wednesday. He was atop the pack in the shot put as he completed a throw of 13.81 meters. “I need to use my whole bod and get that torque. Other than that, I felt pretty decent.” “It’s really about just getting my arm through and getting that top generated,” Blackmon said of improving his shot put throwing technique. The Eagles got some big wins in other field events as Tyler Melton won the high jump with a height of 1.83 meters and Anthony Burch took the triple jump with a distance of 12.57 meters. “Tyler has been a kid who has been running some distance for us and has done some jumping for us,” Stone said of Melton. “He’s just getting better and better and he’s just a sophomore. Anthony has been pretty solid. He’s been Mr. Reliable. He’s always someone you can count on to be up there.” Other Eagles boys to finish in the top three of their respective events included the 4x800 team of Allen, Kendall Butler, David Roberson and Tyler Melton (second place, 10:46.43); the 4x200 team of Hart, Noah Olah, Anderson and Ty Williams (second, 1:30.68); Smith in the 1,600 (second, 4:34.05); Hart in the 400 (second, 51.45 seconds); Carson Hill in the 3,200 (second, 10:07.34); Nathan Testa in the high jump (third, 1.73 meters) and triple jump (third, 12.43); Jacob Turman in the pole vault (second, 3.80); Camden Nelson in the shot put (third, 12.38); and Blayden Pruett in the javelin (second, 44.22). Girls Senior Madison Rogers had herself a day. She broke the school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.68 seconds and teamed with Reagan Fisher, Justice Golden and Izzie Salsman to take first in the 4x200 with a time of 1:49.10. Rogers’ brother, Mason, currently holds the record for the boys 100-meter dash time. “I felt really fresh,” Rogers said. “It was my first race of the day and the weather was nice. That helped keep my muscles relaxed." “The relay went well. It was a back-to-back race for me. The pressure was on to not let my team down since I just ran the 100, but I think we did pretty well.” So did the 4x400 team of Fisher, Izabella West, Rogers and Aspen Reed as they also took first with a time of 4:19.79. “I thought we definitely put in more work than the other teams,” Fisher said. “I think that is what pushed us over.” In the field events, Alyssa Carver was the lone Eagle to capture first place as he height of 3.45 meters put her at the top of the pack. “I am happy because I also (set a personal record) by three inches,” Carver said. Added girls head coach Nick Small: “All four of our girls in the pole vault set personal records. That was really fun to watch.” Other girls to finish in the top three of their events were Salsman in the high jump (second, 1.55); Megan Prestia (second, 3.10) and Ellie Stahl (third, 2.80) in the pole vault; West in the triple jump (second, 11.06) and 300 hurdles (second, 49.32 seconds); Chloe Hernandez in the shot put (second, 10.58) and javelin (third, 34.96); the 4x800 team of Lexi Nicholson, Taylor Nicholson, Catherine Barnes and Aspen Reed (second, 10:46.43); Nevaeh Clausen in the 100 hurdles (third, 17.04 seconds); Jordan Gossage in the 1,600 (third, 5:41.88); Reed (second 2:30.53 and Lylei Bellemere (third, 2:30.65) in the 800); Rogers in the 200 (third, 27.23); and Kayley Bell in the 3,200 (second, 12:33.40).  Grain Valley senior Madison Rogers broke the school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.68 seconds as she took first place in the event. Photo courtesy: Nick Small  Grain Valley senior Keagan Hart finished second in the open 400 to help the Grain Valley boys track and field team win the Suburban White Conference Championships with a team score of 126 points Wednesday at William Chrisman High School. Hart was also a part of the first-place 4x400 relay team. Photo credit: Michael Smith  Grain Valley junior Stylz Blackmon took first place in the shot put event with a distance of 13.81 meters. Photo credit: Michael Smith  Comments are closed.
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