GMAC Finals! Dade County’s showdown meet never disappoints. There were some outstanding performances and even greater challenges. I was especially excited to see my South Dade Express teammates freshmen Symone Mason (Southridge), Twanisha Terry (Northwestern) and Kayla Johnson (Southridge) perform so well in their events. Each of them worked really hard over the past seven years to become strong and competitive athletes.
My wins in the 100 and 200 were tough. In the 100, I was finally able to get out of my blocks quickly. I knew that my start had to be near perfect because Bethel and Hopkins, both from BTW, have excellent starts and they are quick. They challenged me from the onset. During the 200 I came out sluggish and was not able to get off the curve as fast as I should have. Nigel Bethel passed me 20 meters before getting off the curve. The race was a fight to the finish. We finished with identical times, 21.48. Unfortunately, we will not compete again competitively in high school because he is leaving for college this year. However, I look forward to seeing him in our college sports careers. Nigel is a great athlete and will succeed in both football and track.
Districts is the next major meet. Throughout the following few weeks I will be fine-tuning my starts, drive phase and acceleration. I can already imagine those practices. I won’t complain though. I’m sure all of the other teams will be doing the same. You need to put in a lot of work to get the desired product. So, good luck to all athletes, stay healthy and I’ll see you in a few weeks.
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