Dillon Earns All-American Status

STAFF PHOTO HENRY APPLE Amanda Dillon dons the cap and the medal she received for earning All-American status last weekend during the 2014 USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, which concluded last weekend in Houston.
STAFF PHOTO HENRY APPLE Amanda Dillon dons the cap and the medal she received for earning All-American status last weekend during the 2014 USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships, which concluded last weekend in Houston.

SPRINGDALE -- When Amanda Dillon ran in her first USA Track & Field Junior Olympics three years ago, she wished she could be among fellow athletes as they stood on the podium and received their medals.

The Springdale Har-Ber senior achieved that dream last weekend with her performance in the 400-meter dash during the 2014 USATF National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships in Houston, Texas.

Dillon turned in a time of 55.85 seconds to win her heat and automatically qualify for the finals. That earned her the All-American status, which completely overshadowed than the seventh-place finish she had in Sunday's final.

"I have been working on this for four years," Dillon said. "Three years ago, I came to this meet and was at the complete bottom of the pack, and I've kept working and moving up and up. Last year, I made it to the semifinals and I said 'next year, I will be in the final.'

"That's what I did, and it's sort of surreal. It's been four years and and it finally happened. It's like 'Wow.' I was overwhelmed at first."

The All-American honor marked a near-perfect conclusion of the summer track season for Dillon, who runs with the Power Up Track Club when she's not in the high school track season. Earlier this year, she competed in the 39th annual Great Southwest Track & Field Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., and finished the 400 in 55.20 -- the fastest time run by a girl from Arkansas.

It's the result of the additional work she has put in with Power Up Track Club coach Mike Trexler since the completion of her high school season. Trexler, also a volunteer assistant at Har-Ber, has served as Dillon's coach and trainer since she was in the eighth grade and said she's one of the toughest athletes he's ever training -- including football players.

"When school is over, we have more time to train and rest," said Trexler, who also serves as the president of the USATF chapter for Arkansas. "We don't have as much train during high school, and we try not to overwork her. In the summer, we can practice longer and have more flexibility during the day.

"Every day, we decide what is best for her. I don't have a six-week plan for her; I have a one-day plan and do what's best. She may not look like the physical, tough-minded person, but she is when she's running hills and lifting weights. She does everything without questioning, and she does it at a high level."

Dillon, who reached the Junior Olympics by qualifying on a state and regional level, was presented with the perfect situation at the national level since her age division in that event had 48 participants -- exactly enough for six heats of eight people. If one more person had participated, it would have meant runners would have to run two qualifying races to reach the finals.

Instead, she just had one race before the finals, and all she had to do was win her heat, which she did. She passed Jaelyn Pettit with about 25 meters to go and wound up winning by more than one-half of a second.

"I was actually in a heat with one of the best girls in the nation," Dillon said. "So I really wasn't sure what was going to happen. I was just going to run my best try to win my heat, and if not, have one of the best qualifying times.

"I was so totally overwhelmed with it. I wasn't sure I was going to win my heat because of who I was in there with, and not having to run that extra race worked to my advantage. Because of that, I didn't have to run Saturday."

Dillon has no regrets on her seventh-place finish, saying she ran her best despite the south Texas heat and an early wake up call in order to get to the track. She got what she wanted the most: the All-American honor, with a medal and a cap to show for it.

Now she will turn her attention toward her senior season with the Lady Wildcats, and the biggest item on her list is to break the overall state 400 record of 55.54 set by Paige Farrell of Springdale. Dillon set the Class 7A state record at 55.75 last year, and she turned in a time of 55.55 at the Bulldog Relays.

"That's definitely one of my goals for next year because you have to do it at the state meet or the Meet of Champs," Dillon said. "I'll go for that and try my best to break it, then get it down as low as I can get it."

Sports on 07/31/2014

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