NEW PALESTINE — At one time, Jordan Reid questioned whether she’d be back.
There is no question now.
Jordan Reid is back.
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It was answered, emphatically, during the 2019 girls’ track and field season.
Coming off a pair of school records and all-state placings at the IHSAA Girls Track State Finals earlier this month, Reid has been named The Hancock County Girls Track Athlete of the Year.
A multi-sport star for the Dragons, Reid suffered an ACL injury while playing soccer during the fall of her sophomore year.
The comeback was difficult and the progression wasn’t at the pace Reid liked. An infection complicated her rehabilitation.
“I gave up on myself,” Reid admitted. “I’m not a patient person and I had to learn to be patient with the (recovery) process. There was a mental block. It was tough.
“It all taught me to be more patient, trust the doctors, and remember to enjoy every basketball game and every track meet because you never know …”
New Palestine girls track and field coach Chuck Myers saw the struggle, too.
“Last year when she came back, she wasn’t the same as she was as a freshman,” Myers said. “After surgery, she was not in a good place. She got an infection she had to overcome.
“I expected her to come back, but you never know when you have surgery and an injury like that.”
She was limited on the track and field scene last year, but after her winter season of basketball, she was deemed 100 percent healthy and ready to get back to work with New Palestine’s track and field coaching staff.
All were ready to get to work.
“During basketball I felt 100 percent, but it wasn’t until track season that I really felt everything was back in place,” Reid said.
“After basketball, that was the same strong Jordan I saw as a freshman and I thought we’d be able to do some good things,” Myers added.
The lead leg in the 4×400-medley relay, Reid, Victoria Crowder, Maigan Williams and Sophia Taylor finished seventh in the state with a school-record time of 3:56.30. Being able to share success with her teammates and close friends, Reid said the 4×4 was one of the biggest highlights of the 2019 season.
Along with the relay, Reid placed ninth, individually, in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.075 seconds, another school record.
The 400 was something new to Reid. She ran it in relays, but never the open.
She had to be convinced that it was a race that she could do very well in.
“From the beginning of my freshman year, it was ‘Heck, no,” she said. “I don’t do the open 400, leave that to someone else.
“It is way different than running a leg in the relay, but I had a lot of people believe in me and it felt great to see how happy (coach Myers and coach Eric Branch) were for me. I didn’t think I was going to get a 56.”
What led up to the impressive performances at the state finals was pretty remarkable, too.
Reid won four events each at the Hancock County — where she was named Athlete of the Meet — and Hoosier Heritage Conference championships.
She won the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter dash, and was part of the victorious 4×400-meter relay team at county.
School records were broken, including one of her own, at the conference meet. She was part of winning teams in the 4×100 and 4×400 and set records, both school and conference, in winning the 100 and 200.
Reid won the 100 in 12.14 seconds. It broke her school record (12.29) and a 16-year old conference meet mark set by Delta’s Christina Poulson (12.17 seconds) in 2003. The New Palestine junior broke her own conference record (25.60 seconds, set as a freshman) and the school record she co-held with Shelby Scocozza (25.51 seconds, 2004) in winning the 200 in 25.17 seconds.
“I came in the season and had some high expectations,” Reid said, but confessed her accomplishments surpassed her expectations. “Everyone pushed me to do my best and all the hard workouts paid off.
“I have such a great support system with coaches, family and friends. They’ve really helped me. I’m surrounded with a lot of love and joy.”
As good as Reid has been, Myers expects the best is yet to come.
“I think she can place high in the state (in the 400), a top-five finish is in her reach,” he said. “She has to work hard and commit to it and I know she can do it.”
Reid looks forward to it, but as a multi-sport star for the Dragons, track is going to be put on hold for a short bit as she gets ready for her final season of basketball. She has already committed to play hoops at Indiana Wesleyan University, with the possibility to run track, too.
“I’m ready,” Reid said. “I’ve got to get in basketball mode now, but I’ll be ready for track season.”
