North Penn’s Nwogwugwu wins gold in AAA 400 at District 1 Championships

CALN >> Just as the sun made a rare appearance on Saturday afternoon, North Penn’s Uche Nwogwugwo got ready to go in the 400-meter dash.

“I’m glad it stopped raining,” she said. “It was a nice race, one of the better ones.”

Nwogwugwu has been a constant all season for the Lady Knights, racing away to the gold medal in the District One Class AAA 400 at Coatesville High.

“It felt good,” Nwogwugwu said of the race, a nice test going into next week’s big finale. “I drove a lot more than I usually do.”

Nwogwugwu, who placed second last year in the event, cranked out a winning time of 55.18, topping a talented field that included Norristown’s Jayana Webb (55.79) along with Cheltenham duo Alexis Crosby (56.04) and Bria Barnes (56.31).

“This was the third, maybe fourth race that I had to go all out,” Nwogwugwu said, “so going into states, I feel pretty good. My legs don’t hurt — I think I’m ready for it.”

The junior helped propel the North Penn girls to the runner-up spot in Class AAA, behind only four-time defending champion Cheltenham.

State champion indoors in the 400, Nwogwugwu likes where she is heading into next weekend’s state championships in Shippensburg.

“(My time of 55.18 is) pretty good,” she said. “It could be better but I get a little too lazy on that last curve. I don’t open up my strides enough until the home stretch, so I just gotta work on that going into next week.”
Nwogwugwu wasn’t finished.

She had an impressive anchor leg on the Lady Knights’ 4×400 relay, helping to push them to a silver-medal finish and a spot in states.