By Marc Raimondi
It didn't look like the pose of a champion – the Cardozo junior didn't have time to celebrate the Judges' third consecutive 4×400 meter relay victory at the Millrose Games. She just needed to find a nurse and get her foot treated.Muhammad, one of the top-ranked 300 meter and 600 meter runners in the nation in her age group, got those gashes on her right foot on the initial turn of her leg – Cardozo's first – of the relay. She was spiked, lost her shoe and stumbled briefly. Muhammad recovered in time to have the presence of mind to flip off her hanging right sock and not only continue the race, but give her team a substantial lead.”As it happens, I'm thinking to myself, 'I gotta keep going, I gotta keep going,'” Muhammad said. “After the race, I realized how much pain my foot was in.”She gave way to Lindsay Rowe, who gave way to Tessa West before anchor Alison Lee crossed the finish line at 3:58.35. Cardozo never relinquished the lead after the one-shoed, one-socked Muhammad secured it.”When I heard them say, 'Dalilah Muhammad lost her shoe,' I just felt teary,” Cardozo coach Gail Emmanuel said. “I felt so sad, I wasn't cheering for the race anymore. I was just so appreciative. What she's doing is unbelievable – I still can't believe it.”Unbelievable is a good adjective for what Muhammad, a Rochdale native, has done since coming to Cardozo. Out of the 12 PSAL races she's competed in during the indoor season, she's finished first in all but one. She even shook off that right foot pain to win the high-school 200 meters at the Colgate Games Saturday at Madison Square Garden.”Dalilah is strong,” said Lee, a junior. “I mean, running without a shoe? (But) in my mind, I knew she had it.”
