The Blue Valley Northwest Spring Classic took place on Friday, March 31st, and it was a little different than we might have expected. Heavyweights from last year's meet opted to leave the metro for Week 2, so you'll have to look elsewhere for highlights from Olathe North and Liberty North. Olathe Northwest and Saint Thomas Aquinas, however, came through with big squads to challenge the home team Blue Valley Southwest.
Even the mighty Saints of Aquinas, however, didn't seem to show their full strength. Nobody thinks even for a moment that this powerhouse peaks at a 7th place girls & 4th place boys finish.
Out in the field events, BV Northwest's Elise Grosdidier outthrew Olathe Northwest's Val Galligan in the discus, winning by just over a foot. The shot put was a similar story, with Grosdidier beating Galligan by 2 inches. Northwest still took gold in the shot, however, with Adrienne Locke-Garcia surpassing 40 feet once again.
Olathe South's Jordan Allen threw the discus to a state-leading mark of 189-5. He also cruised to victory in the shot put at 54-9.5, less than 2 inches off the state lead.
The boys long jump generated some excitement, with the top 3 athletes separated by just an inch and a half, and 5th place was less than 5 inches behind the winner. Derrick Miller of Lee's Summit West emerged victorious at 20-6.75.
On the track, wind limited a lot of performances, but these teams pushed through. Olivia Cooper from Olathe Northwest took gold in both hurdle events. Her teammate Jacob Norris won a tight 1600 race, then doubled back to win the 800 as well.
Alex Waldie was a highlight for St Thomas Aquinas, winning the 400m by over a second. Blue Valley West's girls put together some solid events as well, with Emma Baum winning the 800, Avery Dawson winning the 200, and the 4x400 team coming together to win the relay.
Lastly, Wyandotte's Jaquelyn Perez-Vela was a big scorer, winning the 400 and taking silver in the 200.
Among the team scores, it was Olathe Northwest who ran away with the girls' title. They came close to doubling-up second-place Olathe South in points. Their biggest events were the hurdles, where they had 3 scorers in both the 100 and 300m races.
On the boys side, results were never entered for the Javelin, High Jump, or Pole Vault, so we may never know who won. Without those events, Lee's Summit West had a 9-point lead, but Olathe Northwest has solid athletes in the pole vault & javelin, so this one may have come down to the wire.