Boys athlete of the week
// The Post-Gazette’s top male performer from the past seven days
The past week: The North Allegheny junior took home three gold medals at the WPIAL track and field championships May 18 at Baldwin High School. Owens placed first in the Class 3A 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.19, placed first in the 300meter hurdles with a time of 38.16 and placed first in the long jump with a distance of 23-5¾. His long jump distance was a personal record.
Check this out: Owens will compete in the 110-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and the long jump — the three events he won gold in at WPIALs — at the PIAA championships this weekend at Shippensburg University. He had previously won WPIAL and PIAA golds in the 300-meter hurdles his junior year. What was the highlight for you during WPIALs last week? Probably either my long jump [personal record], or my long jump win, now that I think about it. That was pretty hype. After WPIALs, what’s your confidence level like heading into PIAA championships? It’s pretty high. Really it’s the same as it would be, I just go in with the same thought process of “I’ve got to handle business here.” WPIALs are past now … it’s a whole new meet, so I’ve just got to go do my thing and compete against the best in the state. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why? Although I’ve already been there, probably Puerto Rico, because that’s where my family’s from, and it’s beautiful down there … somewhere down there. Some area in Puerto Rico. What’s something people would be surprised to know about you? That I like science. What specific kind of science? I like chemistry. I like doing labs and stuff like that. Most people don’t like that. If you could eat any food for the rest of your life, what would you choose? I’ll keep it simple. Pizza. Buffalo chicken, how about that? Do you have any particular
pre-meet rituals? Probably just eat some Chinese food. I always eat Chinese the night before a race. Now that I think about it, I’d probably eat Chinese food for the rest of my life. Who are some of your favorite artists to listen to, while running or in general? Chance the Rapper.