Photo by Don Rich
We are spending the next month or so counting down the top 20 moments of the 2015-2016 year in Pennsylvania track and field and cross country. Yesterday, the Downingtown West boys took the #12 spot on our countdown with their dominating performance at the PIAA XC State Championships last fall. Today we move to the winter, where a freshman from Pennridge, Kouri Peace, shocked everyone by breaking the state record in the 200 meters.
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We knew we were in for something special in the girls' sprints at the PTFCA Indoor State Championship at the end of February. But I don't think we knew just how special.
After a thrilling finish in the girls' 60 meters, many of those same runners returned for the 200 meters a little later. In the race, we had outdoor state record holder Dasia Pressley and the 60 meter champ from hours earlier, Thelma Davies. We expected a close race.
But Kouri Peace made sure that wasn't the case. The Pennridge freshman shot out of the blocks and quickly made up the stagger on Pressley and the rest of the field. By the halfway point, the race was virtually over. Peace stormed down the home stretch and the heads of the entire crowd shot from the finish line to the clock. 23.74.
Photo by Ethan Rissell
That time smashed the previous record held by a name familiar to most in PA track and field: Nicole Leach of West Catholic. While Peace had already made quite the name for herself in the sprint scene to that point, the ninth grader's efforts at Penn State made sure everybody knew her name.
The entire state meet was a coming out party for just how strong the Keystone State currently is in the girls' sprints. Peace's record run in the 200 meters was the exclamation point.
We recounted a fabulous day for a pair of freshman sprinters in PA with this feature. Watch her post-race interview below:
Peace continued her incredible freshman campaign through the spring. She ran a personal best of 23.60 and ran 23.76 to win the outdoor state title in the 200 meters as well. She was second in the 100 meters in a time of 12.05.
We have to expect plenty more dazzling performances from Peace as her career progresses. But with a state record as a freshman, it begs the question, how much faster can she go? She's ready to answer that for us in the coming years, and sprint fans will gladly sit back and enjoy the show as we did this past February at Penn State.
