February 24, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Budding Sierra Leonean sprinter Mary Foday of Central High School in Maryland, USA, Monday clocked a personal best of 7.17 seconds to top all sprinters in the 55 meters dash at the Maryland State High School Indoor Track Meet.
The young sprinter’s 7.17 seconds timing qualified her for a spot in the US High School Nationals. Foday also competed in the 300 meters where she clocked a personal best of 41.55 seconds to finish in fifth place.
According to the founder and owner of African Sports Media, an online sports media, Leslie Koroma, Foday is one of several US-based athletes from high school to collegiate level that have committed to bring athletics back to prominence in Sierra Leone.
He said: “Sierra Leone in the last two decades had fallen on tough times with a decade long civil war and more recently the Ebola outbreak; circumstances that are enough to leave a people depressed and broken and these events had at the same time brought many aspects of life to almost a standstill.”
“Mary is one of several Diaspora Sierra Leoneans who has expressed her absolute love for her country and commitment to lift it up through her performance in sports and she is living up to the billing as she took on all comers today at the Maryland High Schools State Indoor championships and conquered everyone.”