Hall bounces back, Nightingale dominates for area girls teams

Gabby Hall – the Blue Springs girls’ track and field standout freshman – is going to have those youthful moments this season, like during Friday’s Rusty Hodge Invitational when she was visibly disappointed after taking second in the 100-meter dash early in the meet.

To help her bounce back, Hall got some words of encouragement from her mother and head coach Jennifer Reeder before competing in the 200 and 400.

“I told her, ‘you lost to Jazmin McCoy (of North Kansas City), who is a stud. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. You are a stud in the 200 and 400, so go out and prove it,” Reeder said.

Blue Springs freshman Gabby Hall, left, and teammate
Rey'Ven Lawrence compete in the 100-meter dash during
Friday's Rusty Hodge Invitational at Blue Springs South.

And she did just that, responding like a veteran with two firsts and two meet records to help lead the Wildcats to the meet title with 133 points.

She ran a 58.5 in the 400 and 25.41 in the 200. 

“I believed I could do better,” Hall said. “I was nervous at the start of the meet but once the gun went off it went away.”

Hall said her best event is probably the 400, but she considers the 200 her favorite.

Now the challenge for Reeder with such a talented and young runner in three events on her hands is to keep her focused throughout the season.

“We want her to stay focused on the small things like warms ups and cool downs,” she said. “Those things add up to help get you to the next level.”

One area runner who has already reached that next level is Blue Springs South distance runner Samantha Nightingale, and she showed Friday night why she is the best at what she does in the state of Missouri.

The senior won both the mile and two-mile, running 11-flat in the two-mile, a time she was ecstatic about this early in the season.

“I didn’t know I had a chance to run that time until I saw the screen,” Nightingale said. “I’m so happy. My goal, since I had been running all day, was just to do what I could and if I had anything left to just go with it.

“I gave my all the last 300 meters.”

Nightingale said her time was about 30 or 40 seconds faster than what she ran at this time last year.

“All that is her winter preparation and maturity as a runner,” South head coach and Nightingale’s cross country coach Ryan Unruh said. “She’ll only get better. I hope this keeps her hungry.”

Both coaches were pleased with their overall team performance in what is considered one of the more competitive regular season meets of the season.

Blue Springs’ Megan Wright set a meet record by clearing 11 feet in the pole vault, while teammate Cali Bissel finished in third.

“She’s so consistent and it’s great that she’s already clearing 11 feet,” Reeder said of Wright. “Megan and Cali are like sisters. It helps to have a gifted partner in practice.”

The Wildcats were also strong in the relays, taking second in all four. Shannon Danaher took fourth in the 800, Julia Dury and Julia Montgomery were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 3,200. Tyonna Snow has been a nice addition in the long jump, as she took second. Taryn Miller and Tyra Bickham were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the discus, while Bickham also took fourth in the shot put. 

For the Jaguars, Unruh was pleased with a pair of relays, as the 3,200-meter event took third and slashed 10 seconds off of last week’s time, while the 400-meter relay took fourth. The 1,600-meter relay also came in fourth.

Unruh was happy to see soccer player Grace Klausen score in the mile by taking eighth. Cheyenne Watkins took sixth in the pole vault. Brooke Stetzler and Savannah Hoyle took seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 300 hurdles. Hoyle also took eighth in the 100 hurdles. 

“We had girls come out and really compete. They were dialed in,” he said. “This is a high-powered meet and to show up and look good is a good thing.”