Maloy rockets to 12th state title

Dominique Maloy's biggest challenge in the high school track and field state championships Friday was getting to the top step of the podium.

The highest step was about chest level on the 5-foot-2-inch Maloy, a Pahrump Valley senior. She placed one knee on the platform, then deftly used her hands for added leverage to pull up her other leg.

It was precise, fluid movement. No wasted energy.

The same way she runs.

Maloy has had ample opportunities to perfect the technique the past four years.

When she broke her Class 3A state record to win the 100-meter dash late in the afternoon at Del Sol High School, it was her 12th state track title

And she has three events left today: the 200, 400 and long jump. As the state record holder in each event, she's favored to pad her victory total.

If Maloy wins three more gold medals today, her total of 15 in four years will be a state record regardless of school size, according to a Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association official.

"I'm trying to not put too much pressure on myself," said Maloy, an honor student with a grade-point average around 3.6. She's most proud of getting a "B" in calculus.

The 18-year-old also won two state titles as a backup point guard for the Trojans as a freshman and sophomore.

"It's a little nerve-racking now because I want to leave marks that no one will break for a long time," she said.

In the 100, her time of 12.23 seconds was only two-hundredths of a second behind that of 4A winner Kayla Sanchez of Carson High.

"I wish it would've been an 11.9. I really wanted to get below 12 flat," Maloy said. She accomplished that feat several times this year, but only performances in the state meet qualify for state records.

Maloy was the shortest athlete in the eight-runner field but said she's not intimidated by taller runners.

"I don't think longer legs is a big thing. I have long strides," she said. "If you're fast, you're fast."

She might have spotted the field a few tenths of a second because of a tight muscle in her left thigh that has bothered her for about a month.

"I've been fighting this injury, and I think it will keep me from improving my state record in the 400," she said. "I wanted to lower it enough that no one could touch it."

The injury didn't keep Maloy from gaining the title as the fastest girl in Southern Nevada.

Since moving from Washington to Pahrump before seventh grade, Maloy has become so accustomed to the heat that she has accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Arizona. She expects to compete in the 400 meters and possibly long jump.

For nearly all of the 1,213 contestants in the state meet it is the pinnacle of their seasons, which ends after today's final event. But not for Maloy. She's focusing on the Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in two weeks at Albuquerque, N.M., for top athletes in a seven-state region.

"The state meet is important to me, but in the Great Southwest I'll be running against girls my own speed," she said.

That's something she has rarely found among Nevada's 3A schools in four years.