Keith Pompey: Penn Wood's Brittany Wallace fulfills track promise

It never crossed her mind.

Not even for a second did Brittany Wallace think about being this successful in track.

The Penn Wood sprinter knew the potential was there, since success is in her bloodline. However, the 17-year-old's tale was mostly filled with disappointments caused by injuries.

Then came this past indoor season, and an all-American was born.

A month later, Wallace is regarded as the first lady of track and field in Pennsylvania.

The senior's time of 56.47 seconds in the 400 meters on March 28 was the fastest in the state last month. On that same day, the University of Houston signee also had the state's second-best time (25 seconds) in the 200.

"This is very different," Wallace said. "Right now, I didn't expect to run as good as I am running this outdoor season because of the hardship I had the previous years.

"I'm motivated."

Make that motivated and intimidating.

Some opponents stared in awe before Monday's Delaware County Relays. Others donned 'We just lost' looks once she lined up to receive the baton as the Patriots won the southern sprint medley, the 4x200- and 4x400-meter relays.

"I never envisioned being in this situation," Wallace said. "Never at all."

Instead, the standout became discouraged during the outdoor season. It had nothing to do with lack of genetics or talent.

Wallace's father, Nyron, was a standout track and field athlete back in his native Jamaica. Her uncle, Anthony Wallace, was a world- class quarter-miler. He competed in the 400 and 4x100 relay for the Jamaican national team in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Brittany showed some signs of being able to follow in their footsteps early in her high school career. As a sophomore, she won the 200 meters at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association state indoor track and field championships.

Unfortunately for Wallace, that was the last memorable highlight from her sophomore year.

Battling shin splits in her right leg, she failed to reach the Class AAA 200 final at the outdoor state championships. In pain, Wallace finished a disappointing 15th out of 16 semifinalists.

The throbbing continued throughout the indoor season of her junior season. And her performances suffered. Wallace finished 18th out of the 25 participants in the 400 at the indoor state meet. Unable to deal with the pain, she didn't attempt to defend her 200 title.

"The shin split turned into a stress facture," said Wallace, who was sidelined for most of last year's outdoor season.

Her only action came in the Penn Relays, a few dual meets and an uneventful District 1 competition. She placed seventh in the 200 at that meet, failing to qualify for the state championships.

"I got kind of discouraged from last year," Wallace said. "I didn't think about giving up. But I didn't think I would get back to my normal self anytime soon."

It turns out that she has transformed into one of the region's premier runners.

Now healthy, Wallace had a magical indoor season.

She won the 400, placed fourth in the 200, and ran on Penn Wood's second-place 4x400 relay at the indoor state meet in February. Wallace followed that up with a fourth-place finish in 400 at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships, earning all-American honors, last month.

Now, her focus has turned to something that has eluded her: producing memorable outdoor district and state meet performances.

"I'm going to go out there and win," Wallace said.