It’s the fast finishes, not the slow start, that matters most for golden girl Alexis Hardy

SHIPPENSBURG — Alexis Hardy’s mom recently purchased a display case to house her daughter’s growing medals collection.

There are Berks and District 3 gold medals from soccer season when Hardy – a swift wing – helped Wyomissing win a pair of championships and finish 24-2.

There are Berks and District 3 gold from basketball season when Hardy – a swift guard – helped the Spartans win a pair of championships and finish 28-3.

There’s more for the collection now after an impressive haul that saw the precocious sophomore bring home three gold medals Saturday from the District 3 Track and Field Championships.

Mom: You’re gonna need a bigger display case.

This “generational talent,” as one Wyomissing coach referred to Hardy, put on a show Saturday afternoon, winning the 100 and 200 sprints and anchoring the winning 4×100 relay team – each in impressive fashion.

She literally ran away from the field in her individual events, pulling away down the stretch in each.

Hardy won the 100 in 12.39, just off her personal best of 12.26 last week at the Firing Meet.

She scored an even bigger victory in the 200 later in the afternoon, a burst in the home stretch pushing her through the tape in 25.60, nearly three-fourths of a second faster than the runner-up – a huge margin in a sprint. It was her PR, topping the 25.76 last week at the Firing Meet.

In between she had her most thrilling performance. She took the baton for the final leg of the 400 relay several strides off the lead. She caught the lead pack with about 30 meters to go, then hit the tape a fraction of a second ahead of second-place Annville-Cleona.

Her sheer power and determination made the difference in the photo finish.

Three events: Three gold medals.

Three seasons: A champion in each.

The amazing part about Hardy’s success on the track is that she has no time to train for it before the season.

Her winters are spent in the gym, where she’s a ball-hawking guard, a fastbreak waiting to happen. If she gets the ball in the open court, off an Amaya Stewart outlet pass or one of her own steals, she’s gone; no one’s about to catch her.

She did a lot of sprinting downcourt this winter; her season didn’t end until March 18 and in the third round of the PIAA Tournament.

Track season for Hardy started March 19, weeks later than all those people she’s running past on the track, months later for those who ran in the indoor season. She doesn’t have that luxury.

It may put her behind the others at the start but she catches up, for sure.

“It takes a little time getting used to block starts, and running a race correctly,” she said of her return to the track each spring. “The beginning of the year, it was hard for me to get back to the 12.5 area I was around county’s last year. By mid-season I’m back to where I was (last year).”

Hardy seems to be just hitting stride, and at a good time. She’ll compete in three events next week at the PIAA Championships. She’ll be tested, for sure; that should help her produce the best marks of her still-developing career.

Hardy was always faster than anyone around growing up but she didn’t decide to go out for track until seventh grade.

“I was fast in those (other) sports, but being fast on the basketball court or on the (soccer) field is different than being fast on the track,” she said. “On the track you run in a very different way. I didn’t know if I could do that.”

Her track career got off to a slow start. She planned to run in 2020 but that was the year COVID hit and spring sports were suspended.

She was a county champ the next year as an eighth-grader and everyone around the Wyomissing track program knew she would dominate once she reached high school last season. And she did.

She took Berks track by storm, winning a county championship in the 100 as a freshman and finishing second in both the District 3 and PIAA meets.

“My goal was to come in first (this year),” she said. “You want to improve each year. Once I crossed the finish line, knowing I actually did it, the feeling was pretty great.”

Her favorite event, she says, is the 100. She’s not as sure of herself in the 200, though that appeared to be her better race Saturday.

“I feel I can go to my limit in the 100 without worrying about having more left (in the tank to finish the 200),” she said.

And her favorite sport?

Tough question, she said.

“I’ve always loved basketball since I was little,” she said. “The more I’m doing track, the more I’m starting to love it.”