After teammate Lacy May Grogan Ruggiero raced to personal bests in the 800 and 1,500-meter races at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in Eugene, Oregon, Zia Fadil followed up with impressive races on Saturday in the 11-12 age group.
Fadil won a bronze medal in the 3,000-meter race Saturday with a time of 10 minutes and 30.36 seconds. She then raced in the 1,500 later in the day, scoring another third-place finish in 5:01.23.
Fadil previously won state titles in June during the USATF Colorado Association meet, scoring titles in the 800 (2:33.2), 1,500 (5:10.1) and the 3,000 (10:57.1). Two weeks later, in the Region 10 competition in Albuquerque, she won the 3,000 in 11:34.1 while conserving energy for the 1,500 later in the day. Fadil placed second in the 1,500 (5:03.3) and third in the 800 (2:33.2).
Entering the Junior Olympic meet, her times in both the 1,500 and the 3,000 were in the top-10 nationally in her age group. Unfortunately for Fadil, only the regional times were used, so her state meet time of 10 minutes, 57 seconds in the 3,000 was ignored.
Fadil and another Region 10 championship qualifier, Isla Rahmer of Albuquerque, ran in the second-fastest heat of the 3,000.
Right from the gun, it was a two-person race, with Rahmer leading for the first 400 before Fadil took the lead. The two pushed the pace the entire way, going through the 1,600-meter mark in 5:33. With just over a lap to go, Rahmer took the lead, and Fadil wasn’t able to hang on. Rahmer eventually won the heat in 10:25, crossing five seconds before Fadil.
The “fast” heat followed, but it was a one-girl race. Reese Ray won the heat in 10:27.55, to finish second overall and bump Fadil down to third. The age group didn’t have prelims and finals like the older divisions.
Meanwhile, the 1,500 race was originally scheduled for Sunday to avoid having 11- and 12-year-old girls race the 3,000 and 1,500 on the same day. Just before the event, it was changed to Saturday evening.
“Despite numerous protests from athletes, parents and coaches, the USATF refused to address last-minute schedule change,” said Michael Fadil, Zia’s father and both Durango runners’ coach.
All the top seeded 1,500 runners had raced earlier on Saturday in either the 3,000 or the 800. While the last-minute schedule change negatively impacted the race times, it was equally unfair to all of the top girls in the race, Michael said.
In the end, the 1,500 podium was a repeat of the 3,000, with Rahmer winning in 4:57.7, followed by Ray (4:59.28) and Fadil in third (5:01.23.)
After the races, Fadil told the publication “Youth Runner” that she generally doesn’t do more than two running workouts in a week, supplementing running with swimming, road biking, mountain biking and hiking. She also trains and competes with the Durango Swim Club in the winter and does triathlons too. Fadil won the Payson Orchards Triathlon in Salt Lake City, this summer, beating more than 100 athletes to win the women’s division after leading off with a 5,000 time of 19:34.
Dewachen Ilg of Durango also competed in a big meet over the weekend, running a 5.4-mile route at the National High School Trail Championships in Salida.
Racing on the Arkansas Hills trail system, which begins and finishes at 7,057 feet above sea level and tops out at 7,558, Ilg finished 16th out of 41 girls in 45:47. Ella Hagen of Summit won the title in 36:31, followed by Keeghan Edwards of Mountain Vista (36:55) and Reese Tucker of Chatfield (38:14).
Benjamin Anderson of Mountain Vista, meanwhile, won the boys title in 31:53.
Steve Ilg, Dewachen’s father, competed in the Beas Knees Citizens men’s race, held on the same course, and finished 16th in 49:02.
colivas@durangoherald.com
