Ashevill Lighting Youth TC

Jason McGill • JMcGill@CITIZEN-TIMES.com • published August 3, 2008 12:15 am

ASHEVILLE – Maryah Nasir is fast. Very fast. And she's only 9-years old.
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Nasir and seven of her Asheville Lightning youth track and field teammates returned last week from Omaha, Neb. where they took part in the 2008 Junior Olympic national championships. Competing in the 9-10 age group, Nasir led for much of the 1,500-meter run before finishing fifth with a time of 5:26.50. The Top 8 athletes in each event are medallists.

"I want to break a lot of records some day, and I want to go to the Olympics," said Nasir, now in her second year with the Lightning. "It was exciting when I was first after two laps. I'm looking forward to next year."

Just how fast did she run? Lightning distance coach Bill Agrella likened her performance to another Western North Carolina standout athlete.

"(Former Roberson soccer star) Meghan Gilmore when she was competing in the 9-10 year olds ran 5:16 in 2000. That was fourth in the nation," Agrella said. "The best girl's time I've had in any age group since 1993 was Brenna Burns. She was in the 15-16 year olds when she ran a 5:09 in 2000."

Nasir finished 9.58 seconds behind California's Brittany Blackwell.

Meanwhile, the Lightning came back with other medals, including Brad Lindholm, who took seventh place in the 17-18 hammer throw with a personal record 50.13 meters. Sequoia Watkins took fourth in the 15-16 hammer throw with a toss of 34.78 meters. Watkins also qualified to compete in the discus, shotput and javelin.

"I really wasn't sure how I'd do because my technique wasn't where it needed to be, but I tried my best," Watkins said. "I ended up doing way better than I thought. Last year, I only competed in one event. The highlight of the trip was my team and seeing how well they were doing.

"A few years ago, nobody knew where Asheville, North Carolina was. We started doing well and now we're on the map."

Watkins also is in her second year with the Lightning club, which is coached by Lee Pantas. Both her and Lindholm's hammer throw tosses set a team record.

"This was special for us to take that many athletes in that many events," Agrella said. "There's a number of athletes there that we see in terms of the future of the club that can do even better next year."

Sophia Treakle, the reigning Citizen-Times Girls Track Athlete of the Year, took 10th place in the 17-18 400-meter hurdles with a time of 62.98 seconds.