Thomases pass the baton with Central record

Although Central junior Asia Thomas has been ahead of the competition all season, she had been in chasing mode until last weekend.

On a warm Saturday at Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Mo., Thomas finally caught up with part of the legend of Nakeba Thomas, her mother, who last ran for the Tigers 20 years ago.

Nakeba Thomas cemented her name in the history of Central track with state titles in the 400 her junior and senior years, the latter coming in 1990. She also etched her name into the Central record book with a time of 55.95 seconds, a mark that withstood all challengers for 20 years.

That is until her daughter stepped onto the Lafayette track Saturday in a Class 4 sectional.

Asia has proved to be a precocious runner -- she qualified for the state meet in the 400 as a freshman -- but there was little indication that Nakeba's 20-year record was in danger. She had been running well short of her mother's lofty standard with a season-best 57.59 seconds a week earlier in winning the district meet.

Central junior Asia Thomas will compete in the 200 and 400 meters at the Class 4 track and field championships today and Saturday in Jefferson City, Mo.

But Asia found herself in a dual with another fleet-footed junior, Ladue's Montenea Roye, and had to dig deeper than usual. Asia had been edged out by four Ladue runners at the sectional meet a year earlier, preventing a return to the state meet her sophomore year, so she pushed herself harder on the backstretch, not worrying as usual about saving energy for the home stretch.

When Asia crossed the finish line, she was a half-second ahead of Roye to finish first. She was not denied an appearance in the 400 at the state meet this year.

But the news was much bigger than that.

Asia had smashed her season best by nearly 3 seconds with a time of 54.71 seconds.

She had caught and surpassed Nakeba.

"It's really big," Asia said of the record. "I've been hearing about it ever since I was a little girl. Everybody would be like, 'Your mom was so fast.' I never thought I could be like as fast as her. It's pretty cool."

Nakeba said she had been keeping an eye on her records. She still is part of a school-record 800 relay team, but she was more than happy to pass the baton to her daughter in the 400.

"I was surprised I still had the record," Nakeba said. "It seems like it was just meant to be to keep the blood going after 20 years. I gave birth to her and it was like they just waited for her to break my record."

According to athletic.net, which tracks the top high school times in the nation, Asia's 400 is the fastest time recorded by a Missouri female athlete this year.

"We knew all season long she can run times in that range," Central coach Matt Hale said. "It was just a matter of getting pushed finally, and she rose up to the challenge when she was pushed. And she ran the time she was capable of running. She's a very talented young lady."

Asia is 5 foot 9 and covers a lot of ground with each stride.

"Her stride is real long," Hale said. "She's a 400 runner, and we could see that coming in this season. Her main goal was to break her mom's record."

Asia also won the 200 at the sectional with a season-best 24.89 seconds, which was about four-tenths of a second faster than her previous best and the third-best time in Missouri this season. Lauren Cheadle of Lee's Summit West (24.63) is the only Class 4 runner with a faster time this season, according to athletic.net.

A year earlier, Asia had missed out on qualifying for the state meet in both events, having to settle for roles on the 800 and 1,600 relay teams in Jefferson City.

"It was very disappointing," Asia said of her fifth-place 400 finish at last year's sectional. "I thought I would at least get like fourth. I was kind of shocked."

That failure has helped fuel a fire her junior year. She also has a new coach in Hale, who previously coached at Kelly.

"I have a really great coach and I work harder," Asia said. "I had a good coach in coach [Lawrence] Brookins, but I was a little lazy."

This year she's been beaten just once in the 400, early in the season by another Ladue runner, Samantha Levin.

"It was just early in her training and early in the season," Hale said. "With the training she's been doing and working hard, we knew she was going to run a fast time eventually. She was pushed this time, and she's going to be pushed at state, too. She's going to face the same girl."

Thomas had been winning against strong area 400 fields that included the likes of Scott City's two-time Class 2 400 champion Stephanie Essner, a Class 4 state qualifier in Jackson senior Landon Wachter and Saxony Lutheran's Cassie Simpher, a former 400 state champion in Class 1.

"She's the best 400 runner in Southeast Missouri. We've known that all season long," Hale said.

She now has the record and gets the opportunity to match her mother's feat of state championships in each of her final two years of high school.

"That would be awesome," said Asia of a feat she didn't think was possible earlier in the season when she was running in the 58-second range. "After this 54, I guess I can now."

Hale said the junior's long strides are fun to watch, echoing the words of one of his predecessors at Central, coach Jane Evers, who coached Nakeba.

After Nakeba won her first state title after finishing second as a sophomore, Evers raved about her then-junior to the Southeast Missourian.

"She's got so much potential," Evers said. "I really believe Nakeba has only scratched the surface of what she can do. She runs with such grace, with such effortless action, it's a joy just to watch."

Hale has similar thoughts about Asia, who has a lot of meets ahead of her.

"She came off the track after that race and told me she could have ran it faster," Hale said. "I told her she'll get the opportunity at state to do that. I think her times are going to continue to come down, this year and all of next year."