Class 5 Boys

The Top Returners

Seeing as nine of the top twelve finishers at last year's Class 5 State Championships, it would appear that the state's highest classification is getting a facelift in the Javelin event. The top seven returners are within 3 meters of each other led by Cohenn Stark out of Northwest Cedar Hill at 53.88m (176-9). Stark was the only sophomore among the medal winners last season with his sixth place finish, just behind Platte County's Cale Buntz. Buntz is third among returners based on personal best with a 52.54m (172-4) mark, just behind Francis Howell's Logan Humphrey at 52.58m (172-6).

The "Chase Pack"

Webb City's Cooper White was the tough luck ninth place finisher and was the only other sophomore among the field at last year's Class 5 State Championships. He threw 51.66m (169-6) at the Sectional 3 meet. Marquette's Joseph Danner is next among returners at 51.11 (167-8). Two others come in over 50 meters: SLUH's Josh Abbott and Poplar Bluff's Alexandar Larkins, though Poplar Bluff could find themselves in Class 4 this year after a significant enrollment drop. Either way, the Class 5 field is up for grabs with several top athletes in the mix for the gold medal.

Sleeper Pick to Watch

Because middle schoolers typically don't throw the Javelin, we thought it may be more fair to take a look at past results and try to pick a sleeper (an athlete ranked outside of the top 10) to watch heading into the 2026 season. In Class 5, we are looking at Fox's Gavin Pecoraro to take another big step forward in 2026. After closing out the 2024 season with a 38.15m (125-2) personal best, he jumped all the way up to 46.66m (153-1) and is now 13th among returners, fewer than 3 meters off eighth.