Historic Trophy
Joplin racked up 46 points behind a trio of state champions to claim a runner-up finish.
It was the third trophy for Joplin and the first in 70 years, since taking second in 1938 and fourth in 1935. Joplin Memorial took the Class 3A title in 1978, though the city had two high schools from 1968 to 1985.
Future Oklahoma University jumper Donovyn Fowler won a pair of titles for Joplin, claiming the triple jump on Friday and the long jump on Saturday.
After running on the 15th-place Eagles 4x100, Fowler secured his winning triple jump of 15.14 meters (49-8 ¼) on his fifth attempt. Fowler scratched out of the 200 (which was held in the middle of the triple jump competition) and elected to pass on his final attempt, with the long jump on his schedule on Saturday morning.
Donovyn Fowler helped Joplin to the 2nd place Team Trophy by winning the long jump and triple jump.
Fowler jumped 7.70 (25-3 ½) in the long jump, outjumping the laser used to mark the distance. A hand distance was measured and had it not been for the tailwind - 2.7 m/s - he would've broken Lee's Summit's Johnny Brackins Class 5 state meet record of 7.24 from 2019.
Brackins teammate at Lee's Summit, Joshua Manning, a highly coveted football recruit, finished second behind Fowler in both jumps. Manning finished with two runner-up finishes a year after taking 2nd to Brackins in the long and third to Brackins and Fowler in the triple.
Joplin's Donovahn Watkins, a Coffeyville Community College football signee, won the Class 5 shot put with a throw of 18.88 meters (61-11 ½) and even his second best throw would've won the title.
Lee's Summit West's E'lan Moore moved to the lead with a 3rd round 18.50 (60-8 ½) Watkins responded with the monster throw of almost 62-feet. The winning toss was a 0.44m (1-5 ½) personal best. Watkins capped the title with a final round 18.71 (61-4 ½) exclamation.
Junior Hobbs Campbell had one of the best meets among distance runners competing. He anchored the Eagles to a 5th-place 4x800 finish with a 1:55.27 split, the second fastest of the field, moving Joplin up 3 places. On day two, he ran to a runner-up finish in the 1,600 in 4:12.19 and then took fifth in the 800 in 1:56.88.
In 2021, Liberty North missed a trophy by one point. They placed 5th, 1-point back of 4th, 2-points back of 3rd, and 2.5-points behind 2nd. The Eagles and Dave Chatlos' distance crew were greatly impacted by the Covid-19 induced single-day, compressed 2021 meet schedule. While they lost one star to graduation, Luis Perez, they gained another, and Coach Ken Peek's squad took third with 34 points, a point ahead of Suburban Conference Gold Division rival Lee's Summit West.
Liberty North brought home a trophy for the first time since 2015 and third overall.
After the 4x800 title, the Eagles got another title from a new face. Junior Matthew Morrison transferred to the Kansas City metro area school from the state of California. Coach Peek has mentored plenty of excellent throwers at North and he guided Morrison to be one of the country's best. Morrison won the javelin with a throw of 58.71 meters (192-7) capping off a successful first year in Missouri.
The javelin isn't contested in school competition in California, but Morrison had done so for his club team in the Golden State. In April, Morrison threw 60.77m/199-4'' to put him in the top-10 on the U.S. High School season performance list. His toss of 62.23m/204-2'' at Districts, moved him to 3rd on the Missouri High School All-Time List and currently puts him 12th in the country.
Javon Smith took third in the discus for the Eagles, while Lee was third in the 800 and seventh in the 1,600.
Lee's Summit West got trophy number four in school history, adding to three previous runner-up finishes.
After winning the shot and discus last year in one day, senior E'lan Moore added to his impressive resume. He successfully defending his discus title (54.37m/178-4'') and was the runner-up in the shot put (18.50m/60-8.5''), to account for 18 of his team's 33 points. The shot put mark was a personal record by almost a half-meter (0.49m/1-7 ¼''), putting Moore over the 60' barrier and into elite territory.
The Titans got points in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles from Luke Furnell, who took third and fourth, respectively. The 4x400-meter relay team took fifth.
The Titans, on paper, had a chance to place a little higher but returning all-state and defending 300-meter hurdle champion Bryan Haney did not start in the 300 or 110-meter hurdles.
Read more about the Class 5 boys state rack recap on the next page