‘She’s that good’: Kansas state champion sprinter Dhakiyah Blake just getting started
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (BVM) — The two gold medals that Dhakiya Blake earned as a freshman are a great accomplishment for any first-year high school athlete, but that 2019 outdoor state championship meet might end up being the least successful of the budding track star’s career.
“I don’t think she’ll ever be beat again on the state level,” Leavenworth High School girls track and field coach Rob Marriott said. “She’s that good.”
The Leavenworth junior-to-be missed out on her sophomore track season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was no doubting who the top sprinter in Kansas was going to be this past spring, which is why Gatorade recognized Blake as the Kansas Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year. Blake, who won the 400-meter dash and was part of the Pioneers’ winning 4×400 relay team at state last year, was ranked No. 1 in the state in the 100, 200 and 400 before her sophomore season was canceled. Leavenworth’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams — either of which could’ve included Blake — were also ranked No. 1.
As a freshman, Blake could’ve earned more gold at the state outdoor championships if not for what Marriott called “rookie mistakes.” She had to settle for silver in the 200 after she let up at the end of the race, allowing another runner to slip by her, and she was disqualified in the 100, an event in which she held the second-fastest time prior to the state meet. She had also beaten the state champ in that event three times throughout the season.
“I just don’t see her getting beat again,” said Marriott, who believes Blake’s determination and willingness to work will continue to benefit her as her high school career moves forward.
“She has freakish talent, but she works hard,” Marriott said. “When the gun goes off, she like has to win. … Obviously she’s talented but she’s got a great work ethic. She does every workout we ask and we do some tough workouts. She never complains. She’s just always ready to go.”
Blake is also a member of the Leavenworth Raiders, the physical team of the school’s JROTC program, which claimed the National Raider Championship last year in Molena, Ga. Marriott said Blake used to compete in cross country during the fall when she was in middle school, but he believes the training involved with Raiders benefits sprinters more than cross country does.
“Even though she could help us, she would probably be our No. 2 or so, Raiders is a full-body thing,” said Marriott, who’s also Leavenworth’s assistant cross country coach. “In cross, we’re working your lungs and legs and that’s about it. Sprinters need a little more than that so I like that she does that.”
Considered the best sprinter in her state with only one high school season under her belt, Blake has already received letters of interest from NCAA Division I programs. She’s likely to garner even more attention when she gets back on the track next season.
“Before she’s done I think she’ll have her pick of where she wants to go,” Marriott said.
