To no one’s surprise, when the javelin throwers in the boys Class 5 competition took the medal stand on May 30 at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City, the one at the top was from Jefferson County.
Pretty much to everyone’s surprise, though, it wasn’t the Northwest athlete dressed in blue and white that had been trending toward winning state in the javelin all year. The state javelin champion was wearing a red shirt with the letters Fox written across the chest.
In perhaps the most improbable outcome of the 19 events, Fox’s Gavin Pecoraro won the state championship in the javelin when his third throw in four attempts landed at 57.68 meters. Not only did Pecoraro win the Warriors’ first state title in any event in decades, but his throw set the school record.
“A perfect release, an unforgettable flight, and a well-deserved state championship,” Fox head coach Dennis Sander said.
“I’m incredibly proud of him,” Fox javelin coach Eva Rudolph said. “To win a state championship is an amazing accomplishment, but to do it while smashing the school record makes it even more special.”
Pecoraro was one of two Fox athletes to qualify for state, and the other, Nehemiah Glanville, qualified in the long and triple jumps, but did not compete because of a hamstring injury.
Pecoraro beat his old PR by six meters.
“Doing everything right,” he said. “We worked a lot of getting a good block foot, getting my head and chest up.”
Pecoraro had been looking up on the medal stand at Northwest’s Cohenn Stark the previous two weeks at the district and sectional meets. At the District 1 meet at Hillsboro High on May 16, Stark flung the javelin a school record 61.56 meters, which was the second-farthest throw in the state this year. That same day, Pecoraro was fourth in 48.74. The next week at the sectional meet at Kirkwood High, Stark again won in 60.20, while Pecoraro was fourth again in 51.03.
This season, when Stark’s successfully motivated himself for record-breaking throws, he gets a clap going with his gallery of supporters. It’s worked almost every time. Stark’s final throw at state of 56.91 was his best, but so was Platte County’s Cale Buntz, who slipped ahead of Stark into second at 57.06. Stark was sixth in the state in 2025.
“When he started that clap on his last throw, that’s usually when he decides to throw that 60,” Pecoraro said.
“It’s a better feeling than last year,” said Stark as the two county rivals stepped off a medal stand for the last time as juniors. “It’s not the result I wanted, but you have to be happy with improvement. I told him he beat me when it mattered, so props to him.”
A shoulder injury cost Stark a chance to wrestle this past school year, but the school’s quarterback and unquestioned team leader on the gridiron said he looks forward to competing in all three sports as a senior.
“Doing all three was never a question,” he said.
Recent Northwest graduate Peter Thompson qualified for state in the pole vault and finished 12th with a height of 4.10 meters.
Fox and Northwest each had two boys athletes at state, and Seth Maxwell qualified for Seckman in the discus, where his throw of 46.58 was just behind the eighth-place medal throw of 46.82.
In the Class 5 boys team race, Kansas City Rockhurst defended its state title with 60 points, two ahead of second-place Lee’s Summit West. Jackson (third, 55) and Nixa (fourth, 39.5) won team trophies.
Jefferson City Helias Catholic scored 33 points in the 100 and 300 hurdles and won the Class 5 girls title with 84.5 points. It’s Helias’s fourth state crown and first since 1998.
Liberty (second, 81), Ladue (third, 57) and Cardinal Ritter (fourth, 40) won team trophies.