Sprinter/hurdler piles up wins, sets her sights on Olympics
By JENNIFER JAVIER
Staff reporter
06/23/2002
Mickey Mouse
is a little heavier now.
That's a stuffed Mickey Mouse - the one that Glasgow High sprinter
Kamilah Salaam carries around with her for good luck at meets. The one
that she pins all her track medals to.
And Mickey got a huge dose of gold this spring, as Salaam, a junior,
racked up 11 gold medals in three major meets this season: the New Castle
County Championships, the Division I state meet, and the Meet of
Champions. For those accomplishments, Salaam has been named The News
Journal's Girls Track Athlete of the Year.
At the county championships, Salaam became the first person to win four
individual track events (100 meters, 200 meters, 100 hurdles, 300
hurdles). She followed that up with four individual golds in the same
events at the state meet, and three more medals at the Meet of Champions
(200, 800 relay, 1,600 relay).
But this is only the beginning for Salaam, who has higher goals for
next year. She has the medals already. Now it is numbers that motivate
her.
Her biggest disappointment this spring was having her state record in
the 100 meters recalled. On the first day of the state meet, she ran a
time of 12.02 seconds. But the next day, she was told that the record
couldn't stand because there was too much wind.
She wants that record back. And she wants a few others.
"Next year, I'm going to try to break every record, no matter what
I run," Salaam said. "What I want is my name in all the books
forever. I want to be remembered big-time before I leave."
But times are not the only thing Salaam thinks about on the track. She
is also motivated by the memory of her grandmother, Laura Pinkney, who
died on March 31. Salaam said she and her grandmother were alike - both
track athletes, both determined people - and it was her grandmother who
pushed her to reach higher levels.
"She was the one who always said to me, 'You can go to the
Olympics,'" Salaam said. "She kept telling me that. So, now I'm
thinking about 2004 and getting my times down. I think I'd like to do the
100 and 200."
And Salaam is working toward those higher goals. She has three
shoeboxes full of letters from colleges, with Virginia Tech and South
Carolina among her top choices. She's kept busy at national meets,
including two top-eight finishes at the adidas Outdoor Championship last
weekend, and by trying to qualify for the junior national team and the
Junior Olympics.
"While I'm at those meets, I think, 'I've got to be kind of good
because I'm out here, even if I'm from Delaware,'" she said.
"But there's always people who look at me funny because I'm from a
small state. They're like, 'Is that in Philly?' I know that's something
people do. That's the story."
But if she keeps running the way she has been, that will change.
Reach Jennifer Javier at 324-2805 or jjavier@delawareonline.com.
 News Journal file/WILLIAM BRETZGER |
| Kamilah Salaam won four golds at both the Division I state and New Castle County meets this season. |
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