Harrisonville sophomore wins state track title

Editor's Note: From May 2023

By Jimmy Gillispie

JEFFERSON CITY – What a difference a year makes for Kayleigh Norris.

Last year, as a freshman, Norris didn’t want to run any race that was more than two laps around the track.

She qualified for state in a pair of races, but didn’t earn a medal in either event. Her best finish was ninth in the 800-meter run.

Fast forward to Saturday, the Harrisonville sophomore left Adkins Stadium with a state championship and two more state medals. Those can be added to the one she earned in the fall at the state cross country meet – after her tennis season ended.

The track medals came in events that were at least two laps around the track. The runner who once voiced a lack of interest in running distance races has now become one of the best distance runners in the state.

“It’s cool to see her hard work pay off,” HHS coach Brian Bliss said. “She’s a great tennis player, but she went and did tennis and cross country this year. She really enjoyed cross country and really got this love of running. I think that helped her this season. Knowing that and doing that has been a tremendous help for her this season.”

Coming off the fall season, where she competed in tennis and cross country, Norris has been a force on the track this spring. She won a majority of her races, often pacing herself with the competition in the distance behind her. Norris also broke three school records, and kept improving those times throughout the season,

At the Class 4 state meet over the weekend, she was still a force to be reckoned with, but it wasn’t as easy. She won the 1,600-meter state title and finished second in the 800 and 3,200-meter runs – by less than one second combined in the two races.

“Her weekend was phenomenal,” Bliss said. “You couldn’t ask for better. To go out in her first race and PR by almost 20 seconds, and get second place – we can’t ask for anything better than that. To go out and win the mile and get second place in the 800 – what a great sophomore year, seriously.”

Norris’ season culminated in the 1,600 championship. She entered the state meet with the fastest time in Class 4. She admitted that added a bit of pressure, but she tried to stay calm.

Shortly into the race, Norris took the lead and she never looked back. As she came through the halfway mark, Norris had already built a lead of nearly two seconds, which expanded to five seconds one lap later.

Norris won the race in a time of 4 minutes and 58.04 seconds, breaking the 5-minute barrier for the third-consecutive meet. She won the race by six seconds.

“Oh my gosh, this feels so good,” Norris said. “I was so excited for this race. It feels good.”

Her first state title came in an event had no interest in running a year prior.

“It’s crazy,” Norris said. “I never thought I would be running the mile. It was a good choice, though.”

On Friday night, Norris kicked her off her state meet with a silver medal and another improved school record. She ran in the pack for much of the 3,200 run, sitting in fifth place for the first few laps before moving up in the top three.

“I don’t think anyone wanted to lead it,” Norris said. “I really didn’t want to lead it. I wanted competition in front of me and see how that went.”

The final lap came down to a sprint between Norris and Adrienne Luna of Cor Jesu Academy, who finished sixth in the event a year ago. Luna stayed just ahead of Norris, who placed runner-up in a time of 10:54.5 – just 0.39 behind Luna.

Norris’ time improved her school record by 16 seconds. She set the previous record a week earlier at the sectional meet.

“That felt really good,” Norris said. “I really wanted to break that 11-minute mark. That felt really good. I was trying my best to get (Luna). I gave it my all, so that’s all I really wanted.”

Her final event of the weekend was the 800 run. After breaking free from the crowded pack on the last lap, Norris narrowly finished second.

Kearney’s Jadyn Barnes won the state title for a second-straight year. Norris was fractions of a second behind her, finishing the race in a time of 2:17.28.

“Honestly, I just wanted to run as fast as I could for that last race,” Norris said. “I just wanted to give it my all. I wasn’t expecting this at all, to be honest. It just feels so good.”

Running the three longest races at state wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t new to Norris. She often ran all three races at meets throughout the season.

“Coach made me do it at the beginning of the year to get used to it,” Norris said. “I didn’t want to do it, but it helped.”

Bliss confirmed this, saying it prepared her for the state meet.

“You sometimes have to take meets as practice, especially in Kayleigh’s situation where we’re trying to get times down and trying to get pacing down,” Bliss said. “Then, in these big moments, it pays off.”