Athlete focus: Fast as lightning

Leah Walton may only be a sophomore, but she is one of the fastest sophomores on campus. “I like to run because I like to just compete,” Walton said. “I look up to two track stars and they are Sydney McLaughlin and Florence Griffith Joyner because they’re really good on the track.” While she admires these two Olympians, she doesn’t have aspirations of joining their ranks, though. Instead, she plans to attend college after graduating from Armijo in 2020.

Walton has been running since her freshman year and said that she’s been in love with the sport since that time. She isn’t the first track athlete in her family, though. She said that her cousins and her uncle also ran track when they were in school and that’s what inspired her to start. She wanted to keep the track family legacy going.

She is hoping that her track experience will pay off in the long run. “I want to get a scholarship to go to Howard or any HBUCs (Historically Black University and Colleges),” she said.