by By Carrie Garcia, Tribal Observer
For the life of 18 year old Brittany Lewis, it has been an exciting and record breaking year. The Michigan State University fresman and Aamjiwnaang First Nation resident has broken records in her high school days of being on their track team and has gone to the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships in Sudtiirol, Italy and also a youth championship in Singapore. Last July Lewis won the 400 meter hurdles at the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships and sweetened her high school career with a gold medal in the senior girl’s 400 meter hurdles and winning silver in the 400 meter dash at the Ontario championships in June. Her medal count stands at 10 medals which include two national medals. She has been running track since the sixth grade.
Lewis broke one of her highest records possible as a first year freshman and in her first collegeiate year running track, she broke the indoor junior 600 meter record with a time of 1:29:06 in Bloomington, Indiana. Her time shave off onetenth of a second from the 37 year old recrod. The record is a 1975 Canadian record of 1:30:4 which was set by a University of Guelph student by the name of Rachelle Campbell.
She excels at the 400 meter races but this was the first time she decided to run a longer distant indoor race. Currently she holds the fastest Canadian time in the women’s 600 meter race this year. The news of breaking the record really do not settle in quite yet. In fact, the record was discovered when her coaches were comparing her time with the 1975 record. Lewis did not even know she had broken a record until one of her coaches had brought in a paper stating that she had broken a record. Both her coach and her teammates were excited for her.
“I was really excited. it was a good feeling,” Lewis said. “I wasn’t really going for it, it happened on its own.” Lewis had out beaten a senior for the record. With her humble attitude Lewis has broken records before and to her it seemed like it was another day however when she told her father, Mark Nahmabin about the news, he was excited.
“I was amazed, she is amazing,” Nahmabin said. She shared the news to her mother to let her four younger brothers know what is going on with her. It wasn’t new news to share as her four brothers already knew that she either breaks records or wins medals.
“I have my mom tell them to keep them updated, ” Lewis said. “When she tells them , they kind of chuckle and say, ‘She always does.’ They kind of expect it and it is not a shock to them. They are proud of me.”
Lewis will have her name posted on the Athletics Canada website. The Michigan State Track and Field will be having their Alex Wilson Invitational Saturday, Mar. 3 and Sunday Mar. 4 ath the Univesity of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
More news stories about Brittany and her track team can be found on the Michigan State Universitys website, www.msuspartans.com
(Story provided by the Tribal Observer and pictures provided by Brittany Lewis, the original can viewed in the March 2012 edition @ http://www.sagchip.org/tribalobserver/index.asp)
