Girls track and field: Brown gets Neuqua Valley off to strong start at state
Neuqua Valley junior Zawadi Brown is solidifying herself as a household name in the state in track.
A star lacrosse player who committed to Vanderbilt, Brown made a big statement at Friday's Class 3A state preliminaries by advancing to Saturday's finals in the 100-meter dash with a personal record time of 11.93.
She also ran the anchor leg of the 800 relay to lead the Wildcats to the fastest prelim time of 1:40.07. She blazed the final leg of Neuqua Valley's 400 relay which had the third-best time (47.48).
After a weather delay, Brown battled the rain to add another finals trip, this time in the 200 with a top prelim clocking of 24.41 to end a wild and productive day dealing with a variety of weather elements.
"I felt pretty good in the relay, and knew I had to close the gap and take off on the back curve," Brown said of her anchor leg in the 800. I had a pretty good day. We all ran pretty good in the 400 relay. For the finals, the 400 relay is up in the air and we're going to try and run as well as we can."
Although her future is in lacrosse, Brown didn't shy away from admitting she wants to collect several state track medals.
"In the 800 relay, we're ranked first in the state right now, so we would like to win state," Brown said. "It was a fun surprise today for me to advance in the 100 and am seeded to well in the finals. I would also love to win the 200. I think I can do it."
Huntley senior Alexandria Johnson set herself up for a monumental day in the finals by hitting the top mark in the long jump (5.96) and the second-best showing in the triple jump (12.27), just behind Dominique Johnson on Huntley (12.35). Prairie Ridge senior Rylee Lydon advanced to the finals in the high jump (1.63). Huntley senior Ally Panzloff had a personal best toss of 48.73 in the discus for the top throw.
Hinsdale Central's Catie McCabe is headed to the finals in the 1,600 after clocking a time of 4:58.28. She ran the final lap in a slight downpour, as a rolling clock schedule was implemented for the final two hours of the meet due to the possibility of bad weather.
"I'm glad we saw the race before because it ran faster than I thought it would, so that helped me get ready mentally," McCabe said.
Earlier the Class 2A state meet, Glenbard South Gianna Huerta, a Western Kentucky recruit, advanced to the finals with a time of 45.39 in the 300 hurdles. Huerta also stamped a trip to Saturday's finals with a time of 15.07 in the 100 hurdles but missed the cut in the 200 dash (26.09). Last season, Huerta finished in third place in the 300 hurdles and sixth in the 100 hurdles at state.
"I feel pretty good how I did in the hurdles," Huerta said. "I feel a lot better now and feel I'm going to be a long stronger than last year and how I did. I'm hoping to get out hard tomorrow. I got out strong today. I'm hoping to get a first or second in the 300 hurdles and hopefully come after Emmie Scales."
Benet senior distance runner Louisa Diamond, a West Point signee, ran in the same preliminary heat as defending champion Tatum David of Olney. Diamond, who placed seventh at state in the 1,600 and 3,200, finished second in her prelim heat (5:07.22) to advance to the finals. She had the third-fastest time, with David clocking the top time (5:00.39) and Sandwich's Sundara Weber (5:05.62) right behind her.
"Going into the fourth lap, I was thinking if she was trying to slow us down, as long as she made it in because we went out slow," Diamond said of running against David.
Diamond said she's ready for the challenge of going for a top placing in two events at the state finals on Saturday.
"I haven't really embraced the 1,600 (this year) because I've been doubling with it, so I'm just done here to have fun and be with the team and don't have any pressure," Diamond said. "I feel I'm down here to race against some awesome competition and just looking to have fun tomorrow."