Three track athletes competed in the prestigious Millrose Games

On Saturday, Feb. 9, three SJC track and field athletes participated in the Millrose Games at the New York City Armory. The Millrose Games first began in 1908 and have been drawing in competitive athletes ever since. The event includes high school, collegiate, and professional runners and athletes. 

St. John’s senior Alicia Dawson competed in the first-ever junior girls’ long jump event at Millrose and took home first place. She said, “The winning part was nice, but I feel like I definitely could’ve done better. There are some things I can improve on and luckily states is right around the corner.” The DCSAA championships took place on Tuesday, Feb. 12. Dawson was named girls’ MVP and helped secure the championship. She holds the school record for long jump and triple jump.

Alahna Sabbakhan ’19 also competed at Millrose. Sabbakhan ran in the 600m race and placed fifth. This was also a new event for the Millrose Games. She said, “My results weren’t as great as I wanted them to be, but I think it’s just because it was my first 600 of the season and I had to get adjusted to it, but I think I can still do better in the future.” She says that she felt good about the race until the last lap, when it started to feel rough. Sabbakhan holds the school record for the 800m and will run track at the University of Virginia next year.

Junior Mordecai McDaniel competed in the 300m race. He ran a personal record, placing second in his heat and fourth overall. He had competed at Millrose before as a freshman on a relay team. He said, “It’s always a good experience to go down to this meet to see the professionals running.”

He said that by looking at the earlier heats, he knew the competition was going to be hard. “I felt like if I don’t run my best or if I don’t put forth effort today I was going to lose, but I put forth the effort and I did good at my race,” McDaniel said. He also starred at the DCSAA championship on Tuesday, earning the title of boys’ MVP.