​Grain Valley swimmers, divers enjoying breakout seasons

by Michael Smith


Grain Valley boys swimming and diving coach Julie Reilly is working on building her program.

It was just five years ago when the Eagles decided to start a swimming and diving program for the boys and girls. Currently, Grain Valley has eight total members on the team.
Reilly’s goal is to get that number higher in the future, but despite the team being small, that doesn’t mean the results haven’t been there.

The Eagles are having perhaps the best season in its short history as they have two divers who are returning state qualifiers; three relay teams that have already qualified for the state meet; and two swimmers who have qualified in two events each.

Senior Kollin Hansuld and sophomore Gage Wright both competed at state last year and are on track to make a return trip in 2023. Hansuld earned all-state honorable mention honors
in 2022 by placing 13th and Wright made it into the field and took 19th.

Both have added more dives to their respective repertoires and have had solid seasons so far. The Eagles are considered a Class 1 team and the diving duo went up against competitors from Class 2 programs at last Saturday’s COMO Invitational at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Hansuld took 11th with an 11-dive score of 351.2. Wright was right behind him in 12th with a score of 349.55.

“It’s been a fun time and the competition is there,” said Hansuld, whose top score this season is 380. “We have been seeing a  lot more Class 2 to competition and that gets me engaged. COMO had some crazy divers. It was a good rough draft of what state till look like.”

Wright said he has also enjoyed the bump up in competition from previous years.

“It’s given me more time to develop,” Wright said. “I feel like I am doing a lot better this year.”

For Hansuld, he said he has been working on his twister and pike dives. Wright said he has completely changed the dives from what he did last season to help him get higher scores from attempting more advanced ones.

“Almost my whole list is new,” Wright said. “Last year I didn’t have much (degree of difficulty). This year I have been working on building that up. My best new dive is my front 2-1/2.”

Reilly said she has enjoyed the progress Hansuld and Wright have had this season and also said that new diver, Asa Keim, has made some strides.

“Those guys have been neck and neck all year,” Reilly said. “One meet Kollin will win and then Gage will win the next one.”

While the divers are building on the success they had last season, the swimmers seemed to have made a leap from a year ago.

In 2022, the only swimming event the team competed in was the 200-meter relay. This season, the Eagles have qualified in all three relay events (200 free, 400 free and 200 medley) and sophomore Hayden Harshman and junior Mason Enlow have each qualified in two individual events each.

Harshman admitted he didn’t take swimming seriously last year but has had a renewed since of focus this time around. He said it all started from him dropping time in his 50 free race over the summer, which motivated him to work harder.

“Last year, I didn’t try that hard,” Harshman said. “Then I realized I could be faster if I put the effort in.”

So far it has produced results as he has qualified for state in the 200 free and the 100 butterfly. At the COMO Invitational, he placed 44th out of 134 swimmers in the 200 free with a time of 1:57.28 and took 60th in the 100 butterfly at 1:00.32. The 200 time was a school record.

“When I first started doing the 200 free, I hated it,” Harshman said. “Then I started practicing it more this year and thought, ‘I am starting to get pretty good at this.’ I got first at a Senior Night in Blue Springs in that event and I was really surprised. I dropped about 15 seconds.”

He was also a part of the 200 and 400 free relay teams with Enlow, Wright, and senior Landon Gilbert which finished 21st and 30th respectively at the event.

Harshman said his father, Matthew, was a swimmer in high school. His father specialized in the 50 free and had a career-best time of 22.9 seconds. The sophomore’s goal is to beat that time and qualify for state in that event.

“My dad was the one who got me into swimming,” Harshman said. “My motivation is to be better than him.”

Enlow is someone who is lined up to compete in individual events for the first time at state. He has qualified in the 50 free and the 100 backstroke. At the COMO Invitational, he placed 50th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:02.32 and took 46th in the 100 free at 53.01 seconds.

“We’re hoping he can knock the 50 free out of the park this weekend,” Reilly said. “Mason has done very well. He’s also in theater, so for how well he’s been doing has been amazing.”
The Grain Valley boys swimming and diving team will compete at the Blue Springs South Invitational at 10 p.m. Saturday.

​Grain Valley sophomore Hayden Harashman has had a breakout season in which he's qualified for state in two individual events -- the 100 butterfly and 200 free. He's also a part of the state-qualifying 200- and 400-free relay teams. Photo credit: Michael Smith

Senior Kollin Hansuld has a season-best score of 380 in the 1-meter diving event. He's a two-time state qualifier. Photo credit: Michael Smith

Grain Valley sophomore Gage Wright has become a valuable asset to the Grain Valley team as a swimmer and diver. He is a returning state-qualifying diver. Photo credit: Michael Smith