Kickapoo senior Liz Reida was used to going from the end of her cross country season directly to basketball practice (Reida played on the state champion team at Nixa as a sophomore and the third place team at Kickapoo as a junior).
But Reida did not play basketball as a senior and was advised to take two weeks off at the end of cross country season after rupturing a ligament in her ankle (she still finished all state with a 17th place finish).
She was bored and was talked into going to a swimming practice with her cross country teammate, Heidi Schmitz. "I didn't even own a swimsuit so I went in shorts and a sports bra," Reida said.
The coach brought Reida a suit and before the end of the day Reida found herself on the Chief swimming team.
"I had never taken a lesson and had zero experience in swimming," Reida said. But at the end of the season Reida not only was still on the team but she was at the St. Peters-Rec Plex at the state meet as an alternate on the 200-yard and 400-yard relay teams.
"Liz is just an athlete," Kickapoo track coach Jeremy Goddard said. "I think she would be great in just about any sport she plays."
Track and cross country are the sports of choice these days for Reida, who recently signed to participate in those sports at the University of Missouri. She picked Mizzou over Tulsa and Arkansas. "I liked the coach and team at Mizzou," Reida said. "It just seems to be a good fit for me.
Reida finished her classes at Kickapoo Friday and is going to graduate Tuesday. Her whole focus now is on the upcoming sectional and state meets.
Reida is second in the state behind Colleen Quigley of Nerinx Hall in the 1,600 (4:58) and 3,200 (10:48) and second in the 800 (2:12.95) behind Samantha Levin of Ladue.
She won the 3,200 Saturday at the Class 4 District 6 Meet in Branson with a time of 10:48.74 and finished second behind Jessica Jackson of Neosho in the 800 and 1,600. "I just wanted to cruise and make it through in the mile and the 800 was kind of the same way," Reida said. "The 3,200 was my last event and I was given the green light."
Reida should have the green light and looks forward to the upcoming sectional and state meets. The sectional meet will be Saturday in West Plains and the state meet is May 27 and 28 in Jefferson City. "I've got to go out there and qualify for all three events at sectionals," Reida said. "And I just want to blow it up and see how I can do at the state meet."
The one thing missing from Reida's high school resume is an individual state championship. Her best finish was third in the 1,600-meter run last spring. She knows that standing on the top of the podium at Dwight T. Reed Stadium on the campus of Lincoln University in Jefferson City is going to be a huge challenge with the likes of Quigley, Jackson and other top runners in the state.
"My main goal is to finish all-state in all three (the 800, 1,600 and 3,200)," Reida said. "I would love to get PR's in all of them."
Goddard is confident that Reida will be the same person whether she is a state champion or not. "You can tell by just looking at Liz that she is an athlete," Goddard said. "She is extremely competitive and doesn't like to lose but she doesn't have an arrogant bone in her body. In a way she is just one of the girls."
It just so happens that she is one of the girls who happens to be one of the best overall athletes in the state.
