State track: Lakota West junior wins 400 championship

COLUMBUS — Lakota West High School junior Saniya Taylor does the same thing before every race.

“I always recite Bible verses,” she said, “and talk to myself and tell myself that I can do it and that I’m capable. I try not to do much movement. I try to think to myself and try to be joyful in what I’m doing.”

There was plenty of joy on Sunday, June 7, as Taylor won the Division I state championship in the 400-meter run. Her winning time was 55.04 seconds.

“It felt really good,” Taylor said. “I felt really accomplished.”

Taylor entered the meet with the fourth-best qualifying time (55.93). She ran 55.08 in the preliminaries Saturday and was the top seed in the finals. She broke her personal record in back-to-back races.

“I usually get really nervous,” Taylor said, “so I have to tell myself to not be fearful because I’ve been doing this the entire year. Honestly, I didn’t really have much hope. I didn’t really feel like (I compare) to my other competitors, but this year I feel like I found strength in what I can do.”