For the second year in a row, Gage Wright has come out victorious. The Grain Valley High School (GVHS) senior capped off another fantastic season as a member of the Varsity Boys Swim and Dive Team at the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) State Championship when he found himself standing on the first-place platform yet again.

After taking third in the MSHSAA State Diving Championship his sophomore season, Wright set his sights on a first-place finish for his junior season, and he did just that. Wright not only placed first in the MSHSAA Diving Championship, but he also cemented his legacy for GVHS after becoming the first swimming & diving student-athlete in school history to take home a first-place finish.

During the offseason prior to his senior year, Wright spent more time training with the KU dive club where he focused on the basics and fundamentals to help him get better. Like many successful athletes, the goal for his senior season adjusted for a better fit. “Mainly it was just enjoy your senior year, have fun with it,” Wright explained. “Doing well is great, still training hard. The focus is on a state championship, it’s there, I would like to win it, but that’s not my goal,” he continued. “It's preparing for college, it's helping others, really just helping build the program, because I won't be here next year, and I want to see it grow in the future.”

Heading into the end of the season, the GVHS Swim and Dive Team had secured their first ever Suburban White Conference Championship. The team performed well at districts, and eleven athletes would then qualify for State. Gage took home first place in the district championship which secured his qualification for the MSHSAA State Championship.

While adding a state championship to the resume is always nice, Wright entered the championship at peace with the career he has had at Grain Valley. “I've done this before, I've been here, and I have won it, so yeah, it was definitely reassuring,” said Wright. “I didn’t really feel like I had anything to lose, or that I had to back it up – even though I did by a solid margin – that wasn’t my focus, it was to beat myself and better myself.” He continued, “People know that I can dive, and I am a better diver now than I was last fall.”

Gage competed in the 1-Meter Dive where he performed eleven dives that were scored on difficulty. After the results were tallied, Wright was excited to learn he was now a two-time, back-to-back state champion. Overall, three GVHS students qualified for diving, while eleven total competed at a swimming or diving event.

One underclassman, Colton English, found himself blazing his own trail after taking home a 12th-place State finish in diving – the highest finish by a freshman in program history.

Aside from training to reach the next level, Wright spent his season supporting the underclassmen in any way he could, which included taking time to mentor teammates, show support, and celebrate the wins. “You know, coming into senior year, I was really excited, this is going to be a great team. But my worry was that a lot of our key players were going to graduate. So there were a lot of questions left about what is going to happen next year.”

With an impressive state-qualifying group made up of one freshman, two sophomores, three juniors, and five seniors, GVHS is in good company to have a solid returning team next year. “Now looking back on the season, I feel a lot more reassured that our program is going to be okay. And we're going to continue to do better, and we're on a good trajectory,” said Wright. “There are swimmers coming in after us, there are divers coming in after us, and hopefully they will break our records, and continue to succeed as a program.”