Friends’ Central’s Avery Lewis advances to 100-meter dash final at New Balance Nationals

Avery Lewis wasn’t looking to set a personal record or win the 100-meter dash prelim on Friday at the New Balance Nationals. Instead, she was focused on refining her technique — specifically her starts.

“My starts haven’t been too great lately,” Lewis said. “I just wanted to focus on pushing the first 30 meters and really just getting out into space.”

The Friends’ Central standout began the race clean and powerful and crossed the line in 11.61 seconds, finishing fourth out of 43 high school girls competing in the preliminaries. Her time qualified for the 100 final, which will take place Saturday (12:58 p.m.) at Franklin Field.

But that’s not the only event Lewis will be competing in this weekend. She’ll also compete in the 200-meter dash prelims on Saturday (4:29 p.m.) and the long jump on Sunday (12:30 p.m.). With a busy schedule, Lewis, who holds PAISAA titles in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and long jump, knew she needed to balance her preparation coming into the meet.

“I’m definitely just working on speed, endurance, and technique,” Lewis said. “Like lifting my thighs toward the end of a race, pulling my arms, but definitely wanted to lay off a bit because I had to come straight here.”

It was a quick turnaround for Lewis at the New Balance Nationals, as she competed in the Brooks PR Invitational earlier in the week in Seattle.

However, Lewis has high hopes for the long jump. The Pennsylvania indoor state record-holder (21 feet, 2½ inches) wants to set a personal best in the event in which she feels the most confident. Her PAISAA title-winning leap of 20-0½ marked the last time she competed in the event.

“It’s just a lot of fun doing it,” Lewis said of the long jump. “There’s really no pressure; I just have a really good time. I’m honestly looking for some [personal records], I haven’t done long jump in a while, actually, so I’m excited.”

Lewis, who began participating in track and field at age 9, is ready to compete at the next level, as she begins seeking college opportunities with the hopes of eventually competing professionally.

While she didn’t say which schools have reached out, she did mention a few are from the South.

“It’s getting a bit more serious,” Lewis said. “There’s a lot of things I still need to work on. My parents have helped my navigate the college process so far, and there’s schools knocking at my door, but I just can’t let that get to my head because I still have a lot of races to go.”