Sophomore’s first season a success for Desert Oasis

Desert Oasis sophomore Brooke Locey is no stranger to athletic success, but it wasn’t until the spring of her freshman year that she decided to give running a try.

She went out for the track team and excelled, qualifying for state in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs and the 3,200 relay, setting school records in all three events.

And her first season running cross country has been a success, too.

“I have always enjoyed running longer distances, even compared to the 1,600 and 3,200 I run in track,” Locey said. “When I heard about cross country during the track season, there was no way I would pass up a chance to expand my love for running.”

Locey began competing in karate when she was 6 and earned a national championship at age 9. She played three years of basketball in middle school and was on the undefeated freshmen basketball team at Desert Oasis last season.

Then came her first experience as a runner.

“We discussed the option of Brooke running cross country at almost every track meet last year, and thank goodness she decided to run for Desert Oasis in the fall,” Diamondbacks coach Jim Dinkel said. “I am disappointed in myself that (Brooke) didn’t run her freshman year, but I am also excited that she will be in the program for another two years.”

In her first race this fall, the Labor Day Classic at Palo Verde, Locey finished first among freshmen and sophomores and posted the second-fastest time of the day.

At the Larry Burgess Las Vegas Invitational a week later, Locey faced her first real challenge, against all comers. In the 3.1-mile varsity race, she finished sixth. The only local runners to finish ahead of Locey were Centennial juniors Sydney Badger and Katie Gorczyca.

Locey has since won three dual races, placed first in the freshman-sophomore race at the Falcon Invitational and first among varsity girls at the Laughlin Invitational.

“Getting away from the track for a while and getting to run different courses is really exciting,” Locey said “Every time the gun goes off, I get excited and my adrenaline kicks in. That feeling that carries me on through the race is why I run and the most enjoyable aspect.”

Dinkel has been impressed with Locey’s hard work.

“She makes the other runners on the team better because they can see what can happen if you work hard,” Dinkel said. “She not only excels in running, she is a straight-A student in the classroom.”

Locey hit her only bump in the road when she ran in the Bud O’Dea Freshman-Sophomore Championships despite being “under the weather.” She led early but finished 10th in the 2.5-mile race.

“I was upset about getting sick in the middle of the season,” she said. “I had to miss out on the Centennial dual, which I really wanted to run. As I was slowly getting better, we had three meets in a row. By the time I competed at the Frosh-Soph meet on Tuesday, I had digressed back to being sick again. I considered not finishing (the race), but I knew how upset I would be if I stopped.”

Locey sat out the Lake Mead Invitational on Saturday and hopes to be “back to full strength for the next three big meets coming up,” starting with the Northwest League championships Saturday at Shadow Ridge, where she will compete for the second time with Centennial’s Badger and Gorczyca.

“I really respect that Brooke’s goals aren’t about winning meets,” Dinkel said. “Her goals are centered on getting better every day. That type of thought process will make her an extremely successful person in whatever field she pursues once she graduates college.”