Jordan's return helps Wildcats take second

The sun was shining brightly over Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium on the Blue Springs South High School campus Friday afternoon, but that didn’t keep the stars from shining at the Rusty Hodge Jaguar-Haldex Invitational.
Blue Springs junior Ariane Jordan won the 100 and 200 meters and anchored the winning 800 relay team to lead the Wildcats to a surprising second-place finish that thrilled coach Jennifer Reeder.
“Second place is great; I’m really proud of the girls,” said Reeder after her team finished behind a veteran Lee’s Summit team that claimed the title.
“All the girls – across the board – really picked it up to help us finish in second. This should give the girls a lot of confidence, knowing that they can compete with the Lee’s Summits and Lee’s Summit Norths and the other great teams in the area.
“Ariane had a great night, but from the field events to the sprint events to the distance events – everyone contributed. We needed a strong showing by our 4x400 relay team (in the final event Friday evening) to get second place.”
Jimisha Pugh, Hali Metz, Melissa Fuerst and Shannon Danaher placed fourth to assure the Wildcats of the runner-up finish.
It was a special meet for Jordan, who did not compete at the high school level last year. When asked why she skipped her sophomore year, she said matter of factly, “A lot of drama and misunderstandings.
“But I’m back, and I want to help our team achieve some special things. I’m so happy to be back. I love the girls and the coaches, and I think we could have a very, very special season.”
Her time of 25.36 seconds in the finals of the 200 set a meet record. Her time of 25.29 in the preliminaries broke her own school record.
“It’s exciting to run times like this, this early in the season,” Jordan said. “You want to improve every time you run, and that’s what I’m hoping to do every meet this season.”
Reeder is certainly thrilled to have Jordan back on the team.
“Not only is she a great runner, she is a great leader and someone the girls look up to,” Reeder said. “I would agree with her statement about last year – there was a lot of drama and misunderstanding. But she’s back, she’s better than ever and we’re excited that she is a part of the team.”
Fort Osage’s Kelcy Vanarsdall was a double winner. She won the 400 and 800 and ran the anchor legs in the 800 (eighth) and 1,600 (third) relays.
“I’m a little bit tired, but I am really happy with my times in the 400 and 800,” the senior standout said. “I’m really excited about how I did in the 800. I felt strong, and I ran that (event) after I ran the 400.
“But the neatest part of this meet for me, personally, was finishing third in the 4x400 with two freshmen (Darian Grayson and Sophia Likes) and a sophomore (Elaine McAlister) as part of the team. When you have talented young runners like that, you know the future of the Fort Osage track program looks good and strong.”
Though not a double winner, a runner people were talking about Friday night was Blue Springs South freshman Samantha Nightingale, who won the 3,200, then turned around and ran the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay – the very next event.
“She’s something pretty special,” said South assistant coach Laura Porter, who inserted Nightingale into the relay team to replace a member who was sick.
“She said she wanted to do it. And did you see her out there before the relay? She was bouncing around like she hadn’t even run a race, and she’d just won the 3,200. I wish I would have had energy like that when I was young.”
For the record, Porter is a former Examiner All-Area basketball and volleyball standout who went on to play Division I basketball at Weber State.
When asked about the back-to-back races, Nightingale said, “Well, the relay was a lot shorter because I only had to run a 400.
“But I wasn’t tired at all after the 3,200. That’s why I wanted to run in the relay. I was ready.”
She led her team to a first-place finish in their heat.
After the race was over, her teammate, Dominique Wright, simply shook his head and said, “That girl is amazing. AMAZING! How did she do what she just did? I didn’t think anyone could do that.”
Truman’s Katie Willits won the high jump, with a 5-foot effort, and Fort Osage’s Kasey Kershner won the pole vault, topping the field with a 10-0 vault.