Waldron Brings Her Father’s Legacy, Epic Comeback Season Into Brooks 100-Meter Hurdles Showdown
Story and Photos by Steve Underwood for DyeStat
When Nonah Waldron during her recent record-setting Michigan D1 300-meter hurdle triumph rocketed over the fifth hurdle – the juncture where in the 2022 finals on the very same track she tore her labrum and fell – she felt the visceral reaction of someone on her way to an historic breakthrough and the urgency to get to the finish.
“I was just like happy that I got over it … and then I was like ‘GO!'” she said after the race. “I just told myself ‘Go now!’ – like, “Don’t wait, just go,’ and I did. I just went!” The result was an all-time Michigan best and US#2 40.37 victory that finished off a day where Waldron also won the 100 hurdles and helped her Oak Park team to runner-up finishes in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays and a dominating team victory – the seventh in nine years for the program under coach Brandon Jiles.
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At the Brooks PR Invitational Wednesday in Seattle, chances are Waldron will be urging herself on in the same manner, because in the 13-plus seconds of the shorter event there isn’t time to do much else than just “GO!” – all out – as she faces one of the best fields in the country for 2023. And, for once, Waldron has no other races to worry about – no 300 hurdles, no relays, not even any prelims. It’s just one race, one sustained burst of all-out effort.
And, as always, she will be uplifted by the support of her teammates (even if they aren’t on the line with her this time), coaches and family – including her late father, Troy, who passed away in July, 2021 after battling lupus.
Waldron’s father and mother each have inspired her in different ways along her track journey.
“Me and my dad were close, we had a really strong relationship,” she said. “And we bonded with track. It was OUR thing. My mom is the reason that I run track, because she ran track and wanted me to do track, but my dad was the one at every practice with me.”
The Southern Cal recruit is no stranger to high-level championships, whether it’s national high school meets or the summertime Junior Olympics.
However, she says, “This is my first Brooks, so I’m really excited. When I first got the news that I was invited, I was sooo happy and honored … I’m most looking forward to meeting everyone and just…
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