Roxborough’s Ford takes 100 at district championships
It was the start Braheem Ford was waiting for all season.
It was the start Braheem Ford was waiting for all season.
It was the run Ford has been waiting to make his entire life.
But as the Roxborough senior stood bent over with his hands on his knees after he won the District 12 Class AAA 100-meter race Thursday, there was only one thought on his mind.
"The first thing I thought of was states," said Ford, who, with a personal-best run of 10.82 seconds, became the first Roxborough track and field athlete to advance to the PIAA state championships.
"This just means it's time to focus on states now. This is just a stepping-stone."
Ford's 10.82 vaulted him from the 40th- to the eighth-best time in Pennsylvania this season.
It was also good enough to upset heavily favored Corey Brown from Cardinal O'Hara.
Brown, the defending champion and Ohio State football recruit, entered the meet with the fourth-best 100 time in the state, 10.65. He finished third in 10.91.
After falling behind early in the race, Brown made a strong surge midway through, but came up just short behind Ford and Lansdale Catholic's Scott Catalano (10.89).
"I dipped and I felt as if I got first, but I didn't know," Ford said. "When I saw it on the paper, it felt really good. I was nervous before the race; there was a little pressure.
"But I knew the main thing I needed to do was just get out. That's my weakness - my start. But running is just running. So once I got a good start, I was able to pull it off."
Brown managed to defend his state title in the 200 meters with a time of 21.71.
His Cardinal O'Hara team finished second in the championships' team rankings with 97.5 points. La Salle took the team title with 120.5.
On the girls' side, O'Hara finished first overall with 136.5 points.
Other defending champions Thursday included Germantown's Brandon Thompson. Considered the best hurdler in Pennsylvania, Thompson had little trouble repeating as Class AAA champion in the 110 and 300 hurdles. His times were 14.23 and 38.42, respectively.
"I don't think my times were as fast as I wanted them to be, but I'll try to work on that during practice this week," Thompson said. "But it's nice to be able to repeat in both events."
In the girls' hurdles, after finishing fifth last year, Swenson's Mariame Conde finished first in the Class AA 300 hurdles.
Conde entered the championships with the state's fourth-best time of the season in the event (44.61).
"I finally made it. I'm happy," Conde said. "But I just came here and tried to do my best."
After competing last year for West Catholic, Conde credits her new coaching staff, including Swenson hurdles coach Tim Hickey, for helping to improve her personal best by nearly six seconds.
"I would not have done that if it wasn't for my coaches," Conde said. "They've really done a good job."
Other athletes who defended their titles were Father Judge's Tom Kehl (4:15.96) in the Class AAA 1,600 meters, Northeast's Erick Brundidge (48.70) in the Class AAA 400 meters, and West Catholic's Chante Moore (55.97) in the Class AA 400 meters.