Maughan placed fourth, second time All American

HUMBLE, TEXAS – Seeley-Swan High School incoming senior Sariah Maughan and junior Kyla Conley came home from the National Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games with one medal, an All American title and a lot of experience from the season to continue to improve their athletic performance. Both were very grateful to the individuals and businesses that supported their travels to Nationals.

West Coast AAU Junior Olympics ran from July 8 – July 11. Maughan raced in the 800 meter and ran anchor for the 4X400m relay. The biggest things she did to prepare were staying hydrated, eating a lot of pasta and salad and mentally preparing for the race by focusing on the race.

While the elevation was below 100 feet and the temperatures were only in the mid-90s "it felt way hotter because of the humidity."

"You almost felt like you were also breathing water in," Maughan said. "It just felt weird. With the amount of water I drank, I was pretty hydrated. But even after my races, my head just got so light and I was like 'oh man I did not drink enough water,' even though I did, just because of how much the humidity takes out of you while you are running."

In the 800-meter prelims, Maughan said her job was to take first in her heat but also pull her teammate up so she could also make it to finals. While the first place finishers in each heat automatically make it into finals, only the top seven finishers below get to advance.

Maughan ran a 2:16 followed by her teammate with 2:17 taking first and second in the heat. They both advanced to finals.

In the 4X400, Maughan ran a 58.1 split and her team ran a 3:53.71. While this was a personal record for the team, they did not advance to finals taking 13th place.

"We knew it was a very slim chance to make it into finals," Maughan said adding that there was a team that broke a national record running a 3:39. "We had to run at least a 3:45 to make it into finals."

In the 800m finals, Maughan shaved off a little time in her second lap finishing in 2:15.52 for a fourth place finish. She met her goal and earned a spot on the podium.

"Placing on the podium gets you a lot of recognition by colleges," Maughan said. "Now I have two titles as an All American, one from 2019 and one from this year. Putting that up on my resume is really good for applying to colleges."

Conley did the high jump and ran the 400m hurdles. After a travel delay caused her to spend the night in the airport, she did not go into the competition as fresh as she wanted.

After hitting her personal goal of five feet earlier in the season, Conley jumped 4 feet, 8 inches at Nationals in the preliminary not making it into the finals.

"I was just super jet lagged and I couldn't wake my legs up to jump," Conley said. "It was an off day I guess."

Her events were stacked and Conley said she didn't have enough time to warm up for the hurdles. She ran a 1:14.16, placing eighth.

"It was just my second time ever doing hurdles and those girls have been doing it a long time," Conley said. "It was hard but that is ok."

Conley said while she didn't do as well as she hoped in her events, "I got to travel some more and hang out with my team so that was fun."

Conley is also excited to bring the new approach and drills that she learned for high jumping into the track this season with the Lady Blackhawks.

"Now I know I can get five feet and build up from there," Conely said.

She also enjoyed running hurdles so she looks forward to trying those in the regular season and is more excited about the prospect of attending college.

"I never wanted to go to college," Conley said explaining she hates school but the Spokane Speed Academy coaches know a lot of other college coaches. "Now I'm a better athlete and know how to train, not just for track but for any sport. It got me thinking about college more."

Conley added she now feels she has the tools to pursue going to school for basketball.

In addition to the competition, Maughan enjoyed the team dinner at Papa's BBQ, even though the team wore white "that was not a good plan." Afterwards they hung out in the pool and Saturday they went to Galveston, Texas to the beach.

Maughan appreciates the opportunities she has had with SSA. After being on the team in 2019 and 2021 she holds two team records, one in the 800m and as a member of the 4X400m team that broke the team record by nine seconds. Being too old to participate next year, Maughan hopes she will have signed with a college and be training with them.

"My coaches TJ [Moulton] and Cecil [Jackson] pushed me a lot harder and they gave me a variety of workouts," Maughan said. "[TJ] has workouts designed for the 800. Just doing those workouts all summer made my 800 a lot easier to run."

In a social media post SSA Head Coach Cecil Jackson commended the team, "You guys are the best, thanks for giving it your best effort and competing at your best in tough conditions, against tough competition! We are bringing back seven All Americans, eight medalists, and one National Champion...most importantly a ton of personal best performances! Athletes, you all are winners!"