MIDDLETOWN – Daija Lampkin wasn’t feeling her best before the girls 200-meter dash on Saturday.

That didn’t keep the Middletown junior from running her best.

Lampkin blazed around a half-lap of the Appoquinimink track in 23.75 seconds to set a state record and highlight the Blue Hen Conference track and field championships.

“I was feeling nervous before my 200, because I was sick. My stomach was messed up,” Lampkin said. “But I just focused and said, ‘Do good in this 200, because I want to hit a 23 [seconds].”

She did, eclipsing the state mark of 23.96 set by Padua’s Maiya Dendy at the 2013 Caravel Invitational.

“She keeps getting better, because she works for it,” Middletown girls coach Mary Kay Waltemire said of Lampkin. “She’s out here every day, so she works hard to get where she is. She wants the records. That’s way she’s looking for.”
Lampkin wasn’t happy with her winning performance in the 100, even though her 11.99 time tied for fifth-fastest all time. The disappointment fueled the fire for her next race.

“It pushed me to work harder,” she said. “My 100 wasn’t where I wanted to be, so I wanted to make my 200 where I wanted to be.”

Lampkin still has next weekend’s New Castle County championships, the DIAA Division I state meet and the Meet of Champions to chase Dendy’s 100 record of 11.68, set at the 2013 Division II state meet.
(Article Courtesy of DelawareOnline.com)