Shorecrest’s Njadoe is driven to defend her four state track titles

Published 6:55 pm Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Shorecrest’s Wurrie Njadoe knows how to make the most of a year.

Last spring, as a junior, she won her first individual championship at the 2A state track and field meet, placing first in the high jump. She then proceeded to win the long jump and the 100- and 200-meter dashes. With Njadoe scoring 40 points, the Scots claimed the 2A state championship.

And that was just the beginning.

Njadoe competed in the Junior Olympics in Florida last July, finishing first in the long jump, second in the 100 and third in the 200. Her marks in all three events were personal bests.

Njadoe followed up her track success by helping Shorecrest’s girls basketball team win its first state championship earlier this month.

“You win four state titles individually, take your team to … a state title and then you go into basketball and essentially do the same thing,” Shorecrest track coach Brandon Christensen said. “The talent has always been there. You just knew with her character, her personality, drive and work ethic that great things were going to happen.”

Njadoe’s four individual state track titles put her on the radar in the state of Washington, but it was her performance at the Junior Olympics that opened doors nationally. Kansas State assistant track coach Vincent Johnson didn’t know anything about Njadoe before he saw her compete in the long jump in Florida, but she caught his eye right away.

“I really liked the way she ran down the runway,” Johnson said. “I thought, ‘I don’t know what she’s jumping or how good she is, but I wonder what grade she’s in because I think she has the chance to be pretty good.’

“Later on that day, I looked up and I saw her running the 100 and I said, ‘Wow,’ It wasn’t what she ran, it was that she ran the 100 — and then later on she ran the 200. … I noticed she had the tools to run fast before I saw her run fast.”

Johnson said he knew then that Kansas State wanted Njadoe.

“I started putting in a lot of energy in positioning myself for her to become a Wildcat,” he said.

Johnson got his wish in November when Njadoe accepted a full athletic scholarship from Kansas State.

To say Njadoe’s junior season was a life-changer would be an understatement. But the success was fueled by her past struggles at state.

“My freshman year, it was really bad,” Njadoe said. “The nerves got to me, just getting used to the pressure and the competition. By my junior year, I knew what to expect at state so I was just motivated to make my junior year the biggest year for me.”

Njadoe set goals to be in the top three in the state in her four events — the long jump, high jump and 100 and 200 — but it didn’t take long for her to realize she was capable of more. After her win in the high jump, she set new goals.

“It’s not until I won the high jump and I was like, ‘OK, don’t stop now. Just give it all you’ve got. You’ve worked hard for the whole season so why would you settle for third place or second place? Go for first place.’ And I just went at it.”

Still, Njadoe said, she didn’t expect to win all four events, but she did, and with each trip to the top of the podium, it became pretty clear the Scots would be in the running for the team title.

“Our girls program has always been real strong, last year things just kind of came together,” Christensen said. “When you have one person who scores 40 points, you’re going to be a tough team to beat regardless. It was surreal.”

Njadoe’s performance solidified her standing as one of the top female athletes in the state — many of which come from Wesco. One of those athletes, Mountlake Terrace senior Chinne Okoronkwo, took a different route to success. Okoronkwo established her dominance as a freshman and has won at least one state title in each of her first three years of high school.

Along with Njadoe, Okoronkwo was one of the stars of last year’s state meet, winning individual titles in the 3A long jump, triple jump and pole vault.

“They’re a lot alike,” Christensen said. “They both have their own specialties, but they certainly are two of the top female athletes I’ve seen coming out in the same year in 15 years of doing this.”

With early success, confidence seemed to come easily to Okoronkwo. For Njadoe, it developed over time.

Everything finally clicked last year.

“I was more confident in my workouts and with what my coaches were saying to me,” Njadoe said. “I started to understand what they were trying to have me understand. In my junior year, I just understood what I had to do.”

And she understands what she wants to do this year — win again.

“I want to defend my titles and come back even stronger and improve in every event,” Njadoe said. “It just prompted me that if I could do that in one season, then I could do it again and this time I’m going to come out stronger. I know what my body is capable of doing.”

Aaron Lommers covers prep sports for The Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @aaronlommers and contact him at alommers@heraldnet.com.