MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 2019 Class AAA title holder in the 4×800 meter relay and state runner-up in cross-country, Athena Young, has committed to continue her running career at University of Kentucky.
Young’s decision to run distance and cross-country came Tuesday and was announced on Kentucky’s Track and Field Twitter account as part of a thread of signing announcements.
Young was part of the state title-winning 4×800 relay team last season that clocked 9:33.71 upending Cabell Midland and University. The time was three seconds shy of matching the state meet record set in 2016 by Winfield’s relay team. The then-junior also was part of the second-place 4×400 meter relay team, and was the runner-up in the 3200 meter and 3rd place in the 1600 meter individual races.
“This is a girl that finished 75th in the state meet her freshman year – to go from that to 2nd in four years is a tremendous climb,” Morgantown coach Mike Ryan said. “That shows the ability and the work ethic she has. She’s always been a big-meet performer whether at state championships or out of the state.
Young’s second-place finish in the state cross-country meet was a breakthrough by the senior, notching a hard to reach sub-18 time of 17:34.52. The finish behind state champion and teammate Lea Hatcher helped seal the Mohigans’ team title.
“I’m very excited and proud for her. She’s put in a lot of the work over the years, and she’s capable of running at that level and dealing with the pressures of the SEC,” Ryan said. “She’ll continue the success she’s had. (She had breakthrough track races) to get college coaches looking at her, and recently at the state cross-country meet her (finish) opened up a lot of coaches’ eyes. The offers got bigger after that performance.”
Although track is a few months away, Young isn’t taking a break from running: She’s taking part in an open meet at Mylan Park in conjunction with West Virginia University Tuesday afternoon, and will be racing in the Nike Southeast Regional Meet on Nov. 30 in Cary, N.C. She’ll be racing against competitors from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and Washington D.C.
Should Young find herself among the national qualifying racers, she will then head to Portland, Ore., on Dec. 7. To automatically qualify, racers must be part of the top-2 clubs or individually finish in the top 5.
As for Kentucky, the Wildcats recently competed at the NCAA Southeast Finals in Charlottesville, Va., on Friday after taking two top-10 finishes at the SEC Championships on Nov. 1. The men’s team finished 13th and the women took 8th. No individual runner or UK team qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
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