North Shelby Is primed for a big weekend at state

Published 4:55 pm Tuesday, May 19, 2026

SHELBYVILLE, Mo. — North Shelby has never won a team trophy in track and field. That could very well change this weekend with the group going to Jefferson City for the MSHSAA Class 1 Track and Field State Championships. If all goes according to plan, they should come home with a new trophy for the school.
They are led by their strong presence in the field events, especially the throws. Drake Prange, Gannon Bowen, and Talon McCoy are throwing and hoping to score big points for the Raiders.
The biggest expectations fall on Prange. The junior was sectional champ in both the shot put and the discus, and comes into the state meet having thrown the farthest throw all year in the shot and the second farthest in the discus in all of Class 1.
Not to be outdone, Bowen has the second farthest throw all season in the javelin, while McCoy has the eighth farthest. That sets up the Raiders for a lot of potential points.
But the javelin and the shot put will be thrown on Saturday, and the discus starts at 12:30 on Friday.
Before they get to any of those events they may already be sitting well in the standings because sophomore pole vault sensation Jake Geisendofer. Geisendofer comes in with the best jump in Class 1 all season at 4.18 meters (13’ 8.5”). Second is eight inches behind him. He hasn’t lost a vault competition since mid-April, and would very much want to improve on his eighth place finish at state from last season.
Also before the throwers get to have their impact on the Raiders team chances, the 4×800-meter relay team of Bo Bacon, Ty Bacon, Gage Daniel, and Domenic Williams will run at 10:30 AM on Friday. The relay team comes in with the fifth-best time so far this season and sit only four seconds behind the leaders. A good run by the team can set them up for the rest of the weekend.
Alex DiLallo rounds out the entries for the Raiders as the sophomore qualified for the 300 Hurdles with a personal best time of 42.55 at Sectionals.
The Lady Raiders will also be in a great position to have a couple of athletes earn All-State honors as well. Freshman Taylin Pragne will throw the discus and she comes in with a season best of 35.67 meters (117’) which ranks her fourth in Class 1. Sophomore Mallory Griffin will compete in High Jump and currently has a jump of 1.6 meters (5’ 3”) which ranks her in the top five.