Zia Fadil continues to show her amazing speed for her age, as she finished third in the USATF National Junior Olympics in Louisville, Kentucky this past Saturday.
Fadil, 12, ran in the 3,000-meter race in the age 11-12 group. Fadil finished third out of 410 girls with a time of 10 minutes and 42 seconds.
The course was very flat, fast and muddy, according to Fadil. She was happy with her result, despite being boxed in at the beginning and being in around 50th place at the quarter-mile point of the race.
This is Fadil’s fourth time competing at the USATF National Junior Olympics in either track and field or cross country. Her latest result tied for her previous-best finish in the National Junior Olympics.
To qualify for this race, Fadil finished second in the Colorado Association race and third in the Region 10 race, which includes runners from Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Southwest Texas.
This past weekend’s race was Fadil’s last for the season, as she plans on taking indoor track off. Fadil previously made headlines by winning the women’s Turkey Trot in Durango on Thanksgiving.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
