Reporter-Area 2017 Girls Track Athlete of Year: North Penn’s Nwogwugwu pulls away from all competition

Uche Nwogwugwu will go racing off to The University of Pennsylvania in the fall, having left quite a legacy on the track at North Penn.

Chosen as the Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Nwogwugwu sped away to one gold medal after another while helping to lift her team to rare heights.

At the PIAA State Championships, Nwogwugwu won gold every time she went on the track. She won the 400 title. She ran the second leg of the winning 4×8. And she capped things off by anchoring the 4×4 team to a team-title clinching gold.

She also pulled off a pretty rare feat, defending her state title in the 400 dash.

“That was a race. I knew it was gonna be a race,” said the senior, who crossed the finish line in 53.80 seconds. “They all went out really fast. They were in front of me the first 150 so I knew it would come down to the last 100 meters.

“I just tried to not give up on the curve and finish the race.”

The week before at the District One Championships, Nwogwugwu captured her second straight 400 title at Coatesville.

“It was really good competition. They always push me,” she said of the district competition, which she out-performed with a time of 54.87, “so it felt really good to come out on top today.”

Nwogwugwu was outstanding all season for NP, leading the Knights to an unbeaten dual-meet season, a Suburban One League Continental Conference title, a runner-up spot at districts, and the PIAA-3A State Title, North Penn’s first since 1997. Uche Nwogwugwu will go racing off to The University of Pennsylvania in the fall, having left quite a legacy on the track at North Penn.

Chosen as the Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Nwogwugwu sped away to one gold medal after another while helping to lift her team to rare heights.

At the PIAA State Championships, Nwogwugwu won gold every time she went on the track. She won the 400 title. She ran the second leg of the winning 4×8. And she capped things off by anchoring the 4×4 team to a team-title clinching gold.

She also pulled off a pretty rare feat, defending her state title in the 400 dash.

“That was a race. I knew it was gonna be a race,” said the senior, who crossed the finish line in 53.80 seconds. “They all went out really fast. They were in front of me the first 150 so I knew it would come down to the last 100 meters.

“I just tried to not give up on the curve and finish the race.”

The week before at the District One Championships, Nwogwugwu captured her second straight 400 title at Coatesville.

“It was really good competition. They always push me,” she said of the district competition, which she out-performed with a time of 54.87, “so it felt really good to come out on top today.”

Nwogwugwu was outstanding all season for NP, leading the Knights to an unbeaten dual-meet season, a Suburban One League Continental Conference title, a runner-up spot at districts, and the PIAA-3A State Title, North Penn’s first since 1997.