Photo by Nevin Watson
5. How fast can Sidi run?
Remember in 2022 when Will Sumner put on a show in the 400 and 800 in what was the best middle distance performance in state history? He broke the state record in both the 400 and 800 and we thought it would be a long time until somebody beat his records. One year later Sidi Njie from Westlake made us quickly forget about the now pro Sumner who won an NCAA title as a true freshman in 2023. Wow, what a performance by Njie at the state meet last year when he ran 45.46 for the win and new state record. Now it definitely helped that he was pushed to the line in that race by Ervin Pearson who could also threaten to be the fastest 400 runner in the state this year. But Sidi has been the best 400 runner we've ever seen so far in high school. He won state as a freshman and almost cracked the top ten list then. He followed it up with a state record as a sophomore. That...shouldn't have been possible. He's the 18th fastest 400m runner in US history! And yet, he's somehow not even the fastest in his grade. Crazy. But this season I fully expect him to come out and wow us all again. It's not impossible for somebody to get the better of him but he's been nothing short of spectacular so far in high school, and I am sure that will continue this spring. Now that he's older and wiser, he might not be beatable. And I'm excited to see if he can run in the 44's this year, something only 3 boys have ever done in high school.