Another wild and entertaining Class 1, 2, 3 State Championship weekend has come and gone and we are here to recap all of the action; Class 1 is up next. We will be talking primarily about Day 2 storylines after already discussing all the winners from Day 1 here.
--
North Shelby Throwers Lead Team to First Ever Track Championship
The North Shelby Raiders made history over the weekend, winning their program's first ever track and field state championship with 46 points.
The MVPs of the weekend were the throwers. In the three throws events, North Shelby scored 37 of the 46, with 15 coming in the shot put, 14 in the javelin, and 8 in the discus.
Junior Drake Prange scored 18 of the points himself. He started off the weekend with a 49.38m (162-0) mark in the discus, good enough for a runner-up finish. Not a personal best, and his second straight second place finish, but it was an improvement upon 2025's performance by nearly 2 meters. Prange ended his season with a 52.88m (173-6) personal best and finished no worse than second in all 13 meets in which he competed. Marquand-Zion sophomore Kolby Stafford won his school's first ever championship in any sport with his 51.36m (168-6) mark.
Prange ended the weekend with a massive personal best in the shot put of 16.86m (55-5.75) and defended his Class 1 title by exactly four feet. After hitting this mark on his final throw, he ran over and embraced his father, Clint, who was a three-time state champion in the discus, Olympic trials qualifier, and former state meet record holder, but two-time runner-up in the shot put. The Pranges have flip-flopped their state championship events, but Drake will have one more year to try to win the discus in 2027. Picking up an additional 5 points for the cause was junior Gannon Bowen with his 14.94m (49-0.25) toss. It was his first time ever over 14 meters, and was nearly his first time ever over 15 meters, in his first year contesting the event.
Bowen finished even higher in the javelin, placing second with a personal best of 54.55 (178-11). After focusing primarily on the jumps over the last two years, Bowen seems to have found his calling in the throws arenas and will be one to watch if he picks up the discus in 2027. He also nearly pulled off the upset over Hermitage's Levi George, but was unsuccessful as George would secure the victory with his final toss of the day: a 54.69m (179-5) mark. A third North Shelby junior secured a medal, as Talon McCoy would finish third with his 48.44m (158-11) personal best.
Of course, the 37 points these three juniors picked up would not be enough to win the title outright over Thomas Jefferson Independent. They would need some help from the fifth place 4x800 meter relay team of Bo Bacon, Ty Bacon, Gage Daniel, and Domenic Williams, as well as a fourth place finish in the pole vault from sophomore Jake Geisendorfer. With only one senior in the mix (Bo Bacon), North Shelby will be a heavy favorite to repeat in 2027, especially with Thomas Jefferson Independent most likely moving to Class 2 now.
--
Mound City Girls Upset Rock Port's Three-Peat Effort
The Rock Port Blue Jays were going for their third team title in a row and nearly got there, but a fantastic two days from a rival from the northwestern Missouri corner of Missouri would foil their effort. The Mound City Panthers dropped 52 points and brought home their first team title since 2016 and fifth all-time.
It was a whole-team effort with points spread throughout the disciplines. Maggie Osburn brought home the only individual title of the weekend for Mound City with her win in the discus. The junior saved her best throws for when it mattered most, hitting a personal best twice and finishing with a 38.69m (126-11). She also finished 5th in the shot put, tying her a high school personal best of 10.70m (35-1.25). Elise Dudeck and Elena Gillenwater teamed up in the hurdle races to finish 4th and 6th in the 100m hurdles and 5th and 7th in the 300 hurdles, combining for 13 points. Rayla Hufford ran personal bests in the 200 and 400 to earn 5th and 6th place finishes there. Sophie Biermann finished 4th in the high jump. Biermann, Hufford, Gillenwater, and Selah Meadows teamed up for a third place finish in the 4x200, with Dudeck stepping in for Biermann among the group and placing third in the 4x400.
The balanced squad held off Christian Fellowship's 48 points, Rock Port's 47, and St. Vincent's 43. Christian Fellowship benefited from an impressive sprint treble from Grace Heston who, in her senior year, took the state meet by storm in her first trip to the big dance. She ran personal bests of 12.45, 25.54, and 57.64 in the 100, 200, and 400 in finals on Saturday to win all three. Lillian Bender also put up a 10-spot in the 3200 with her personal best of 12:00.77, completing an undefeated freshman season in the race. Rock Port was led by Ella Meyerkorth who won her third straight 300m hurdles title, finished 2nd in the 100m hurdles, 3rd in the javelin, and 7th in the long jump. St. Vincent was led by Reagan Meyer, who we will mention here on her own.
Mound City will be returning many of their key performers from this victory and should be among the favorites for the Class 1 title in 2027 already.
--
Reagan Meyer Pushes Her Own Class 1 State Record, Earns Three More Golds
St. Vincent's Reagan Meyer capped off her illustrious career with an undefeated season and four all-state medals, leading her squad to its first team trophy in program history.
Day 1 saw Meyer pick up her third straight Class 1 victories in the 800 and 1600, with the 800 time of 2:13.46 pushing her own Class 1 State meet record even further. The 1600 time of 5:02.58 was just a few ticks off the meet record set by Claire Workman in 2016. It was a lifetime best, however, and 18-second victory. Meyer ended her career with 18 straight wins in the 800 and 14 straight wins in the 1600, each over the last 3 years. The last time she lost in the 800 or 1600 was April 25th, 2024.
Meyer was also featured on the 4x800 and 4x400 teams which finished 5th and 1st, respectively. Her 2:14.25 split in the former race pulled her team from 7th to 4th and the 56.49 split on the anchor in the latter pushed her team from 2nd into 1st.
Meyer now heads off to Saint Louis University where she will go from competing in Class 1 to Division 1.
--
More From Class 1
- Daisy Kearns scored 32 points on her own with a win in the 100m hurdles, runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, and a 3rd place finish in the long jump. The 14.52 personal best earned her not only her first state championship, but the first state championship in the history of Valley High School.
- The St. Joseph Christian girls pulled off a relay treble, winning the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x800. It was the team of Grace Barnes, Katherine Moeck, Claire Vorderstrasse, and Adalie Dawson who won both of the sprint relays, while the underclassmen team of Brooklin Hill, Ruthie Arnold, Carla Miller, and Leah Miller who won the 4x800.
- Smithton's Coby Tagtmeyer capped off a stellar senior season with a 1:55.41 personal best and dominating victory in the 800 meter run. He jumped all the way up from 8th in 2025. Tagtmeyer's anchor leg in the 4x400 helped his squad to victory there, too. He also held off Lutheran Kansas City's Graham Nord in the 800, who was coming off an impressive 4-second victory earlier in the 1600.
Another wild and entertaining Class 1, 2, 3 State Championship weekend has come and gone and we are here to recap all of the action; Class 1 is up next. We will be talking primarily about Day 2 storylines after already discussing all the winners from Day 1 here.
--