The Stateliner sophomore added a third-place in the 200 to her third in the 100.
Sydney Hawkins got a surprise bonus Saturday.
The Phillipsburg sophomore sprinter surged to a third place finish in the 100-meter dash at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington High School in 12.33 seconds (she ran 12.14 in the preliminaries).
She was pretty pleased with that after finishing sixth in this meet as a freshman.
“I was happy with my 100,” she said. “I didn’t really feel good warming up but once I went out I felt fine.”
The 100 medal had been expected for Hawkins. She has ranked among the state’s top 100 runners all season.
The second third-place medal of the day, in the 200 at 24.97 seconds when Hawkins wasn’t even in the fast heat, was not.
Hawkins had not been enthusiastic about even running the 200 after she finished ninth at the Group 4 meet last week and only qualified for the Meet of Champs with a wild card.
“My parents really pushed me to run the 200,” Hawkins said. “After I came in last last week I wouldn’t have predicted being third at meet of champions. I did think I could go faster than I did last week. I worked on my form running the curve and I really pushed hard on the straightaway. I think I did really well on the straightaway today. I wasn’t happy with my 200 last week but I am really happy today.”
Phillipsburg head coach Rich Kiley noted how unusual it was for an athlete to take third from any heat other than the final, Hawkins impressed in the 200, especially in the power she showed off the turn. Her time of 24.97 was only 4/100 off of her personal-best of 24.93 ran at the H/W/S meet May 20.
The 100 time of 12.14 was off her personal-best of 11.94 run back in April, but Hawkins worked hard on her form in the 100 after some shakiness last week.
“I was focusing on my form this week,” she said. “Today time was more important than places. I was struggling a little with my form, I felt too loose running last week. This week I was able to stabilize my form and I ran straight-up. Last week I was leaning forward too much. I was pretty satisfied this week. I was not happy with the 100 last week.”
This week, it’s safe to say Sydney Hawkins was pretty happy – her smiles as she held two bronze medals told the tale without any words needed.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.