Fadiya qualifies for IHSA State Championships in 300 meter Hurdles

On Thursday, May 16, sophomore Temi Fadiya represented Beacon Academy and the Lake Shore Athletic Conference at the IHSA Track State Championships at Eastern Illinois University. This was the first bid in the 300-meter hurdles of Fadiya’s young career, but should not be her last. Although she did not qualify for the Finals it was a great overall experience to learn and compete from the best in the state.

One week prior, she finished second at the Chicago Hope Sectional Qualifier event with a time of 57.84. This is her first year competing in the event, and she has consistently demonstrated fundamental growth, as well as a resiliency to compete with any and all competition.

“I was running with state champions, what more can I ask for,” Fadiya stated after her race.

Her continued determination, and training will continue to prepare her for the next level. She also competes on the 4x 800-meter relay team. That team also qualified for the state championship after a dynamic second place finish after trailing the entire race.

The relay team started off in fifth place through two runners until freshmen Georgie Gell received the baton. Gell took off in a calm sprint like she was a professional racer. She would chase down the third and fourth place teams before moving into second place just in time for the exchange with junior Braedyn Thacker for the final leg. Thacker ran one of her best legs of the season narrowly finishing in second place to Hope Academy. A .25 seconds separated the top two relay squads. Nevertheless, the overall efforts were good enough for an automatic bid to the state meet.

This was the fourth year in a row the Beacon Track team had representation at the Track State Championships in its 10-year history.