Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Winn picks up where she left off
PEA RIDGE — When Blakelee Winn stepped onto the Elkins track in mid-March, one might find it hard to believe it was her first outdoor meet in almost two years.
It might have been even harder to believe the Pea Ridge senior standout hadn’t been a week removed from playing the final game of her basketball career during the Class 4A state tournament.
With limited practice under her belt, Winn won the 100-meter dash and 100 hurdles, then helped the Lady Blackhawks win the 4x100 relay en route to capturing the team title at the Elkins Elks Relays.
“I’m always busy, so it wasn’t a big difference for me,” Winn said. “It was just a normal day. It was weird being around that environment and stuff, but it makes me happy. Being in this kind of environment means something to me.”
Winn’s time in the 100 was 12.65 seconds, compared to a wind-aided 12.36 she ran to win the Class 4A state championship as a sophomore. She then finished the 100 hurdles in 15.83 seconds, compared to her personal-best time of 15.44 during the 2019 state high school heptathlon.
She has since improved on those outings, cutting her 100 time down to a wind-aided 12.53 and her 100 hurdles time to 15.58 during the Berryville Bobcats Invitational on April 1. She wound up with five first-place finishes in that meet, including a personal-best 17-10 in the long jump which puts her atop the state’s high school performances.
“She hasn’t had a lot of time to practice hurdles,” Pea Ridge coach Heather Wade said. “Watching her run at the Elkins meet, the temperature wasn’t great but she came in and did her job. She looked very good on them. Her form looked really good.
“They went deep in the basketball playoffs, which was a great experience. We were able to get her a couple of weeks ago, and we’re trying to work out some things right now. We want to get her into track shape and ready to run by the district meet and state.”
Winn won four events and accounted for 48 points to help Pea Ridge win its second consecutive 4A state championship in 2019, then scored 4,310 points and finished third in the heptathlon. Like many athletes last year, she never had a chance to build on those performances when the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation.
Instead, Winn’s track season consisted of what workouts she could do by herself, but it wasn’t going to stop her from trying to get better.
“The time I had off, I actually worked harder,” Winn said. “It made me want to push more and succeed more and have that mentality to keep going.
“I used the time to go work out with my personal trainer because he was still open. I would go in my front yard and down the driveway or in the back. I was making up my own workouts, and I actually took a hurdle home. I would just do that in my backyard.”
The idle time allowed Winn to weigh out the decision on her sport of choice when she reached college. She chose track and field over basketball and softball, then signed a national letter of intent with Pittsburg State in November.
Softball, however, still plays an important part these days. When she’s not at the track, Winn will probably found with the Lady Blackhawks softball team, where she is the leadoff hitter and splits her time between shortstop and the outfield.
“This year, I think she’s going to be with us the whole time,” Wade said. “We have worked it out. This year, she comes in here during the hour, then she goes to softball after school. Softball schedules, however, are jampacked. We just get what we can, and we have a couple more that go and do the same thing.”
Wade said she will spend the next month trying to figure out what Winn will do to give the Lady Blackhawks their best opportunity to win a third straight state title. Winn will also get the opportunity to work on things to help her compete in the heptathlon next month, especially since that is what she could be doing in college.
Meanwhile, Winn has one simple goal on her mind.
“I’m just looking forward to having fun,” she said. “I want to PR in my events, and basically have fun at this point.”