All-Delco girls track Athlete of the Year: Mansaray credits faith, friends for keeping her on track

YEADON >> “If not.” Two simple words that mean the world to Penn Wood’s Agnes Mansaray.

If not for a phone number of a family friend in California that her father gave her before she left her native Sierra Leone to run at the Penn Relays two years ago, Mansaray does not know where she would be today.

If not for the kindness of a cab driver from Nigeria, whom she met shortly after her plane landed at JFK airport in New York, Mansaray would have been stranded alone in a strange land where she did not know the language and just $20 in her pocket.

And if not for a strong support system here in Delaware County headed by Kadiatu and Momadu Conteh, her legal guardians in the United States, Mansaray’s story would be one of despair instead one of success and perseverance.

It is a story Mansaray kept private until recently. Her teammates, coaches, friends and teachers at Penn Wood were unaware of the details of her incredible story until she was named the 2016 Daily Times Athlete of the Year in girls track.

Even then, she kept most of the specifics private. She still does. Mansaray only touched on the periphery of her remarkable journey.

Instead, the recent Penn Wood graduate chose to focus on how her life has changed for the better since she came to the United States.

“I just want to look forward, to the future,” she said.

And the future looks bright for the two-time All-Delco. Mansary is the national record-holder in the 800-meter run in Sierra Leone, a mark she initially broke at the District One Class AAA championships and then shattered by more than two seconds when she finished second to Cardinal O’Hara’s Olivia Arizin in an epic duel at the PIAA Championships in May with a time of 2 minutes, 7.53 seconds.

Yet it is what she accomplished as part of Penn Wood’s 4 x 200, 4 x 400 and sprint medley relay teams that set Mansaray apart from her contemporaries. She was the driving force on a quartet that included fellow All-Delco members Terri Turner, Janae Pitt and Elicia Moore. That group set the county record in each of those events.

Mansaray’s stunning 53-second split in the 4 x 400 relay at the PIAA Championships, just two events after taking silver in the 800, enabled the Patriots to shatter the meet record by nearly four seconds with a time of 3:42.67. It is the eighth-fastest time in the country and the second time the Patriots broke the county record in the event during the 2016 season.

Mansaray and her teammates were not finished. A few weeks later they smashed Sun Valley’s 24-year-old mark in the sprint medley relay by nearly two seconds with a time of 3:56.75 at the New Balance Nationals in North Carolina.

That is the fastest time in the country in the event. The group kicked off the season by setting the county record in the 4 x 200 (1:42.74) at the Delco Relay Carnival in April.

“I did not want to let my teammates down,” Mansaray said after the Patriots won the 4 x 400 relay in Shippensburg.

She didn’t let her teammates down because she is driven, and has been since the day she arrived in this country.

Mansaray could have folded when she landed at JFK airport and somehow became separated from her group, the details of which she keeps close to the vest.

But it was her deep Christian faith, and the kindness of a cab driver, that helped Mansaray keep it together. Despite their language barrier, the cabbie was able to help Mansaray contact a family friend in California, who put her in touch with the Conteh’s. The next thing she knew she was on a bus headed for Philadelphia where her life would change completely.

“I don’t know where I would be without him,” Mansaray said. “He saw me crying. He was the only one to show mercy on me.”

Still, it wasn’t easy. She has not seen her parents or her five siblings since she left Sierra Leone, but does stay in touch with her family. And that’s where the Conteh’s come in. They have helped to fill the void in that part of her life.

“Kadiatu Conteh has done everything for me,” Mansaray. “She’s now my aunt. That’s how I think of her.”

Ultimately, though, it was her faith that allowed Mansaray to survive and eventually thrive in a strange, new land.

“I put everything in God’s hands,” Mansaray said. “I knew that almighty God would make a way for me, guide me and provide for me.”

She also drew strength from the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

It is a quote that is near and dear to Mansaray’s heart.

“I have had many challenges and that makes me so thankful for all I have accomplished,” she said. “I am just so thankful to all the people who helped me to become a better person. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I do know that I will never forget all the people who helped me along the way. I just want to make them proud.”

She already has.

“I can’t imagine going through what she went through,” Penn Wood coach Len Jordan said. “To come here, not know anyone, have just $20 in your pocket and have the kind of success she’s had is just incredible.”

It truly is an American success story, one that is not lost on Mansaray.

“I am just so grateful to be in this country,” Mansaray said. “May God bless the United States of America. No matter who you are or where you’re from there is someone in this country who is willing to help you.”