Moore sprints to Athena Award

Richfield’s trackstar, student body president honored

Richfield senior Janiya Moore can add the Athena Award to her ongoing list of accomplishments.

The Spartans sprinter joined the other Athena Award winners during the annual luncheon on Friday at the Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center.

Moore is in the midst of her third standout season on the track with a return trip and perhaps a spot on the state podium awaiting her in June.

Moore placed 12th in the 100-meter dash at the state meet last year in 12.80 seconds, after finishing second at the Section 3AA meet in a then-personal best time of 12.49.

She also added a state appearance in the 200 dash finishing 10th in 26.19 after a runner-up performance in the section finals in a PR time of 25.55.

Only fellow Athena Award recipient, Holy Angels’ Ashley Fisher, kept Moore from capturing multiple section track titles.

Voted the track program’s Runner-of-the-Year in 2022 and 2023, Moore said her top accomplishment was qualifying for the Hamline Elite meet as a junior last spring. She won both of her 200-meter races before placing seventh in the event at the Hamline Elite Meet in 26.57. Just over a month later she improved by a full second (25.55) to finish second at sections and qualify for state.

This spring

After winning the 100 at the Irondale Knights Under the Lights meet on April 12 (12.77) and a Tri-Metro Conference meet at Spartan Stadium on April 23 (12.56), Moore set a new personal-best time in the event at the Hamline Elite Meet on April 26, finishing 12th in 12.62. The Spartans captain was third at the May 3 Edina Invite in 12.77.

The Richfield Student Government President said her love of track and field came through in fifth grade. “Field Day in the fifth grade, that moment is really when I fell in love with track and field, and the idea of getting to the finish line as fast as possible,” she wrote in her Athena Award profile.

She completed 80 hours of community service as a senior in addition to her work with the Environmental Club and Me-to-We. A member of the National Honor Society, Honor Roll, and Minnesota Bilingual Platinum Seal (Spanish), she was honored as a Spotlight on Scholarship feature.

Moore plans to continue to run in college at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul while majoring in biology, but not before one more final push representing the Spartans at the state meet.