Sports
Levi Jordan dominates at Regional track meet
Tuesday, 15 May 2012 by Chuck Kelly
The multi-talented Levi Jordan has one last competition to participate in as a student at Belton High School. Jordan qualified the state meet after winning the regional meet. Photo by Chuck KellyEight Tiger track athletes qualified for the Class 5A Region II Track and Field Meet at Baylor's Hart-Patterson Complex --- Only ONE remained standing after the competition.
Belton senior multi-sport athlete, Levi Jordan, won the gold medal in Discus and earned a berth in the University Interscholastic League State Meet May 11-12 at the University of Texas' Mike Myers Stadium in Austin. He bested the field by four feet with a winning toss of 173 feet.
This was Jordan's third trip to regional and after not placing at all in Friday's shot put competition, he was motivated for the discus showdown.
"I was a little low (after the shot) but not bummed out. I just planned to come back Saturday and throw the discus," he said...and throw it he did! "Being there before helped a little bit...just being down there, having that previous experience, kind of calmed my nerves and allowed me to focus on what I needed to do (Saturday)."
It was hot and windy but Jordan was able to use his great technique to skillfully outthrow the others and finally earn a coveted trip to "state".
How did it feel and what went thru his mind after taking first place?
"I felt happy...definitely relieved, just calm. I started thinking about the next couple of weeks, training, weights, etc...all the work I have to put in to get a medal."
As for the other talented regional qualifiers from Belton High School --- Kyle Rhoads was 5th in the boy's pole vault with a height of 14'6"; and teammate Pathion Collins took 6th with a long jump of 22'6".
For the Lady Tigers, Emily Krenek finished 7th out of 24 with a high jump of 5'2"; Chloe Lewis was 7th out of 24, putting the shot 38'1-1/4"; Lewis was 14th in discus with a toss of 104'11", finishing behind freshman teammate Bekah Alcozer, who had a throw of 110'8" for 12th place; Katelin Huckabee posted a time of 11:58 for 12th out of 24 running the 3200 meters and she was 13th out of the same number in the 1600 meters in 5:33; Ashley Russell ran the 100 meter hurdles in 15.65 to take 13th out of 24 competitors.
Winning is not new to Jordan. He began his athletic career at age six as a member of the Cougars T-Ball team that won the state championship;he took up football (along with baseball) when he was seven; added basketball for a third sport at nine or ten; in middle school, track joined the other three sports; Jordan began running out of hours in the day and dropped baseball in his freshman year of high school; and as a senior narrowed his sports-load to only football and track.
It paid off as he was selected 1st team All-District 12-5A as both a wide receiver and, also, punter (a unanimous selection). Jordan was later selected Class 5A 1st team All-State as a punter.
Now, Region discus champion and a chance to bring home a second All-State award for the discus.
"I think it (going to state) will be a lot of fun,"said Jordan. "Just enjoy it...it's the last track meet that I'll go to this spring before I start summer club track. I'm going to represent Tiger Nation as best I can and, hopefully, bring some hardware back home to my family."
What will it mean if he wins the gold?
"Well, I don't know," he answered. "I guess I'll have to compare it to the other 49 states and see if I'm really number one!"
Then comes summer track and in August, the AAU Junior Olympics in Houston where Jordan hopes to compete in the Decathlon .
Jordan is looking forward to college and has already committed to the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he will run track and major in physics or engineering. "I still have a little bit of time to decide what I want to do," he commented.
Meanwhile, it's train and train some more before he heads to Austin with a glint of gold in his eye. Mom and dad, Lana and Greg Jordan, and most of Levi's family and carloads of friends and fans from Belton will be cheering from the stands waiting for him to climb to the top of the medals stand.
