Liberty North’s Redmond runs away with two titles

Jon Redmond has some good reasons for preferring the 100-meter dash over the 200. First, he’s pretty good at it. Second, he enjoys the competition.

And third, it’s less work.

“The whole year the 100 was the one I liked working at,” Redmond said. “It kind of got me out of hard workouts as well.”

Don’t get the idea that Redmond is some sort of slacker – he’s been accepted to West Point and will run track for Army, after all – but the 100 is just more his speed. He went to the Missouri Class 3-5 state track meet last weekend at Jefferson City High School confident he could get gold in the Class 5 boys 100, which he did with a time of 10.51 seconds.

Then, after enduring a nearly six-hour delay when severe weather hit the area Saturday, Redmond surprised himself in the 200, crossing the finish line just ahead of Lee’s Summit North’s Nyles Thomas in a personal-best 21.59 seconds.

“I knew I wanted the 100 really bad, and I came into the open 200 just wanting to do the best that I can,” Redmond said. “I didn’t expect that to happen.”

Redmond wasn’t Liberty North’s only champion during the two-day meet. Ekaolise Jose won the Class 5 girls long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 9 ½ inches.

Kearney, led by senior distance runner Clayton Adams, placed fourth in the Class 4 boys standings with 43 points. Adams won the Class 4 boys 1,600 in 4:14.67 and took second in the 800 and 3,200 races. He also ran the anchor leg on the Bulldogs’ victorious 3,200 relay team.

Keiara Williams of North Kansas City won the Class 5 girls shot put. Williams, a senior, won with a toss of 48-4 that broke the Class 5 meet record Lee’s Summit West’s Mikayla Kelby set last year. Northtown had another champion in freshman Osayi Omorodion, who won the Class 5 girls 100-meter hurdles in 14.22 seconds.

Platte City junior Rebekah Geddes raced to victory in the Class 4 girls 800 with a time of 2:17.66.

Papay Glaywulu completed his successful senior season at Park Hill by winning the Class 5 boys triple jump with a leap of 47-4. Park Hill closed out the Class 5 girls track events by holding off Lee’s Summit West in the 1,600-meter relay final. Teresa Thomas, Manuela Ngo Tonye Nyemeck, Jena Hahlbeck and Taiya Shelby posted a winning time of 3:53.72.

In the Class 5 boys pole vault, which ended close to midnight Saturday, Liberty’s Kyle Rogers dueled again with Lee’s Summit friend and rival KC Lightfoot. Rogers and Lightfoot both topped out at 16-6, but Lightfoot won the title by having the fewest misses.