A'Laji Bradley 200/400 Pattonville Jr. - Unattached
The other national class junior competing in the Northwest is Pattonville's A'Laji Bradley. The sprint star started her career at Trinity Catholic before it close two years ago. Bradley has continued her progress at Pattonville. Only Zaya Akins kept Bradley from winning the Class 5 200 and 400-meter dashes. A year after winning the Class 5 400 title when Akins was in Class 4, Bradley shined all spring long, especially at state.
Bradley ran a nearly ½ second personal record (PR) in the 400-meters, finishing in 53.33 to take 2nd in an outstanding field and just ¼ second behind Akins (53.08). In the 200 final, Bradley blazed to a 23.60 to beat 2-time defending champion Aniyah Brown and take 2nd to Akins (22.43). Bradley added a 3rd-place finish in the 100 in 11.86, behind only Akins and Brown.
At New Balance Nationals Outdoor in Pennsylvania three weeks after state, Bradley ran 54.48 to take 4th in the Championship 400-meters.
At USAs, Bradley qualified in both the 200 and 400. Her 23.60 makes her the 16th seed in the 200 while her 53.33 puts her as the 10th seed. Bradley takes to the newly re-imagined Hayward Field track that opened in 2019, in the 400 prelims at 4:30 p.m. in lane #5 of heat #3 of 3. The top-2 finishers in each heat and the next two fastest finishers in the field of 20 will advance to Sunday's final at 5:22 p.m. CT.
On Sunday, both rounds of the 200 will be held. Bradley races in heat #3 of 3 and in lane #6 shortly after 4:41, when the first heat begins. If she advances, she'll race the final at 6:46 p.m.
Sunday will be a busy day if she advances to both finals. She could race the 200 prelims at 4:41-ish, then the 400 final at 5:22, and finally the 200 final at 6:46. If she can earn a top-2 finish in either event or place in the top-4 to top-8, she could make the US Team. The US team can send 4x400 squads for each gender as well as a mixed 4x400, featuring two men and two women. Bradley could make the team as a member of the relay pool and be considered for both 4x400s and if she makes the team in any event, could also race the 4x100.
Bradley will be trying to do what Zaya Akins and Johnny Brackins did last year. Akins placed 2nd last year in the USA U20 400-meter dash to make the team while Brackins won the USA U20 long jump title. In Colombia, Brackins ran on both the prelims and finals in the 4x100, despite not running it at nationals, but rather competed in the long jump and 110-hurdles. Brackins and teammates earned a bronze medal in the event at the World U20 Championships.