Merrimack's Kailey Blain surprised herself by winning the 100 at the Class L meet.
MERRIMACK – There was no one more surprised that Kailey Blain won the 100-meter dash at the Class L track and field championship Friday than Blain herself.
But there was the Merrimack High School senior, sprinting ahead of Manchester Central’s Meggie Donovan and Bishop Guertin Cecilia Barowski to win the 100 in 12.4 seconds.
Surprise was the first thing. Pride and satisfaction came next.
“Senior year, on my home track, I don’t think I could get a better situation than that,” Blain said. “I didn’t expect to win. Not at all. The whole field was really good.”
Blain entered the prelims seeded third and advanced to the final with the fastest time by more than two-tenths of a second. Thanks to an improved start to the race, she was able to win the Class L individual title by .34 seconds.
“The main difference was that I got out of my blocks quickly, which I’m usually bad at,” she said. “I think that was the difference. It depends on the day. Track is so unpredictable.
“I wanted top three or four. I was out there with some amazing runners and I’m just thrilled to say I did this.”