Warren JFK's Cicero starts, finishes strong

The junior captured a state title in the 300 hurdles.
By KURT SNYDER
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
COLUMBUS -- Warren John F. Kennedy High junior hurdler Angelene Cicero immediately took the lead of the Division III 300-meter hurdles Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, and she never gave it back.
Cicero pulled away from the field with a time of 44.72 seconds to win the championship. Cicero also led off the JFK 4x400 team, which finished seventh with a time of 4:04.30. Cicero said the hard work she has put into her training paid off Saturday.
Seeing results
"It's overwhelming," she said. "I love it; I'm so happy that I'm here right now because I've worked so hard. I know I have, and I think it's really starting to show.
"I have been dreaming about this week after week of track practice," she said. "This is what you strive for."
Cicero said she saw she had the lead when she went over the first hurdle. She said once she saw that, she had to go for the win.
"When you see you get to that first hurdle first, you're like, 'Oh gosh, I have to roll with that,' " she said.
But Cicero said despite holding the lead throughout the race, she still felt threatened by the other competitors. But she would not give up the championship.
"They were breathing down my neck," she said. "I had to go. You don't succumb; you just go."
Even though this was Cicero's first trip to the state meet, she said it was what she expected and was not hard to focus on her events.
"I can honestly tell you the crowd did not overwhelm me," she said. "The stadium did not overwhelm me. It was what I thought it was going to be. I was ready for it."
Others
In the Division III 400-meter dash, Ursuline junior Cierra Bennett finished eighth with a time of 59.56, while Ursuline sophomore Tiffani Miller finished seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.28.
Brookfield senior Kaitlyn Nasci finished seventh in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 46.42, and Badger sophomore Samantha Bonar finished eighth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:45.51.