BAYFIELD – Bayfield High School track and field star Jordan Lanning has broken school records and is the reigning Class 3A state champion in the long jump, but the senior has set her sights on a new target of running for Colorado State University.
Lanning signed her National Letter of Intent Thursday at BHS and is looking forward to competing the remainder of the high school season with a big weight lifted off of her shoulders.
“It feels really good to be recognized a little bit more than usual,” Lanning said. “It’s been a process, and I narrowed it down from some other schools, and I just felt like CSU has everything I need. I toured it with their coach and one of my other friends and really liked their facilities, the feel of the program, and their coaches and I had great interactions.”
Colorado State competes in the Mountain West Conference. Lanning, daughter of Audra and Jeff Lanning, also considered Division II Western Colorado University along with Division I programs such as the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Colorado.
“CSU had that homey-type of feeling,” Lanning said. “I met some of the other athletes there, and knowing that I’ll be able to compete in a high-level conference like the Mountain West, I am looking toward the new challenge.”
While Lanning is known for her high jumping and hurdle abilities as a Wolverine, it wasn’t always that way. She moved to Bayfield from Cripple Creek, about 40 miles southwest of Colorado Springs, in the middle of her sophomore year.
“I came here and cleared a (5-foot-7) high jump, and that’s when I was like, ‘Wow, I really might want to do this as a collegiate athlete,’” Lanning said. “From that point on, it just drove me, and I worked hard and kept pursuing my goal. I knew that I was good enough to compete at the college level, but it really wasn’t till I got here that I realized my potential, and a lot of that is because of my coaches and fellow athletes pushing me.”
Bayfield head coach Josh Walton said Lanning has come a long way during her time in a Wolverines’ uniform.
“Honestly, when she first moved here, we didn’t know about her at first, but we then learned of her and were excited that she was a four-event state qualifier as a freshman,” Walton said. “She instantly was one of our hardest workers. She works all summer, does what she needs to to keep progressing, getting faster and jumping higher. She decided to just focus on track, and we’ve seen the difference.”
Her hard work paid off last weekend when she set four school records at the Abel Velasquez Invitational at Ignacio. This weekend, she will compete on her home track one last time in the Pine River Invitational to be held Saturday.
“I had a pretty good weekend this past weekend,” Lanning said. “I still want to keep getting better and have more (personal records) as I get closer to league, regionals and the state meet. But even this weekend, I am excited to be competing on our track one last time and am hoping to improve even more.”
Lanning holds the school record in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.98 seconds and the 100-meter dash of 12.65 seconds. In the field events, she has a 5-foot-9-inch high jump and a 17-foot, 7-inch long jump.
She plans on majoring in sports and exercise science and plans on being a multi-event athlete and possibly compete in the heptathlon.
“This is a big day for me, but I am hoping it’ll only go up from here,” Lanning said. “I’m just thankful for everybody who’s supported me along the way, and I can’t wait to see how I finish out this year and get ready for CSU.”
bploen@durangoherald.com
