Lady Roadrunners Have Impressive Performances At Chilly Berry College Track

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Freshman Kay Vradenburgh is a quiet lady. She prefers to do her talking on the track, with her feet, and she has never been louder than she was Saturdaymorning in the Berry Field Day Invitational in Mount Berry, Ga.

Vradenburgh, senior Nayeli Jacobo, and sophomore Ana Karen Padilla took to the track under overcast skies and unseasonably cool temperatures. As the race began, Jacobo and Vradenburgh went straight to the lead pack and followed along.

As the twelve and half lap race unfolded, one by one, runners would peel away from the pack as the pace became too difficult to maintain. Halfway through the race, Vradenburgh and Jacobo remained at the front of the race. As Jacobo began to fade, Vradenburgh only seemed to get stronger. Running her fastest mile of the race in her third and final mile, she pulled away from everyone to win by a monstrous 14 seconds, setting a personal best (by a whopping one minute and ten seconds) of 19:36. Jacobo fought hard for fourth position and only missed her personal best by three seconds when she finished in 20:11. AK Padilla ran her fastest time of the season when she crossed the line in 21:19.

The Roadrunners entered four in the 1500-meter run. Freshman Noor Sabeeh continues to improve each week and shaved eight seconds from her personal best time when she finished second in her heat when she ran 5:18. In the next heat, freshman Sarah Sullivan ran 5:32 for a fourth-place finish. It was her first time ever competing at the distance and she represented Dalton State well. The last heat of the day showed off sophomore Hayley Hight and freshmanMorgan King. Running the distance for her first time, Hight ran away from the field to win the heat when she ran 5:30. King finished fifth, only a second from her personal best at 5:49.

In the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase, an event where runners must leap over 35 barriers including seven "water jumps" while running nearly two miles, both Roadrunners were able to break the school record for the event. Noor Sabeeh ran 12:52 as she blazed past a runner just before the finish line to finish in fifth place overall in the strongest field of the year. Not far behind was Sarah Sullivan who cut 24 seconds from her best time when she ran 13:07 which was good enough for eighth place. The previous school record was 13:12. Sabeeh and Sullivan have improved tremendously in a very difficult event.

As the meet was nearing its completion, the Lady Roadrunners still had two events left to run. Running low on fumes in the 800 meter run, Nayeli Jacobo, Noor Sabeeh, AK Padilla, andMorgan King took to the track to run the intense two lap race as the air continued to get colder and the wind fiercely blew in the ladies face down the backstretch. Running in the third heat of the day, Jacobo was able to muster a fourth-place finish in her heat and 15^th overall in a field of nearly 60 runners when she ran a 2:29. Noor followed in heat seven when she finished third in her heat and ran 2:39, just a second off her personal best. In the final heat of the day, Padilla and King battled for supremacy. Running at the back of the pack through the first lap, they passed the leaders early on the final lap and ran together pulling away from the field. Sprinting side by side over the last 100 meters, Padilla was able to just nip King for the win in 2:47, which is a personal best time. King was less than a second behind in 2:48, and second in the heat.

In the final event of the day, Hight, Vradenburgh, Sabeeh, and Jacobo ran in the fastest heat of the 4X400 relay. Trailing the superfast field, the Lady Roadrunners were able to run a school record time of 4:39.

"We have a great story or two every meet," said coach Dean Thompson. "This week it was Kay, Noor, and Sarah who ran really well, not to take anything away from anyone else. All of them work hard and run hard. We're at a stage in training where running personal best times is difficult. Those who were able to do that in this meet did it in spite of where we are right now. They will be ready to do some special things at our conference championship meet in two weeks. I'm really excited about what could happen there."

The Lady Roadrunners will be back in action on April 20 for the Southern States Athletic Conference Championship meet in Mobile, Ala.