COLUMBUS — Beaver Local senior Savannah Nign was a winner long before becoming a state champion.

Nign, who was paralyzed in a car accident at age 6, became Columbiana County’s first wheelchair state track champion at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

“It’s been a great season,” Beaver Local track coach Matthew Kidd said. “There’s been a lot of PRs (personal records) for her.”

Nign won the girls 400-meter race after being passed near the finish of the 800-meter race by Lakota West junior Juniper McKnight.

“It was motivation,” she said.

Nign captured the 400 state title in 1 minute, 26.16 seconds, her best ever by three seconds. McKnight was second in 1:28.06.

Nign said she could hear McKnight trying to make another run down the stretch.

The only thing she was thinking was, “Don’t slow down. I think I did in the 800 because I came out too fast. I didn’t have anything at the end. The 400 is a longer distance than the 100, but you don’t have to pace yourself.”

She crossed the finish line as a state champion.

“I watched her when I was jumping,” said Beaver Local sophomore Landon Wheatley, who earned a spot on the podium in the Division II high jump. “I’m proud of her.”

Nign was second to McKnight in the 800 (3:10.74) and 100 (23.80).

Nign added a third place in the shot put (a personal-best 13-feet-2 3/4) on Friday to complete a four-medal weekend.

Kidd said he’s never thought of Nign as being disabled.

“She’s always happy,” Kidd said. “She wants to be considered just like another other athlete competing.”

Nign doesn’t remember anything from the day that changed her life in January 2014.

The SUV carrying nine people on their way to a relative’s birthday party was hit head on by another vehicle on Route 518 near Gavers Road. Her parents in the front seat were killed along with her older sister’s 11-year-old friend. The other six children were rushed to the hospital, including four by helicopters.

Savannah, then a first grader at Beaver Local, suffered the most serious injuries. She spent 2 1/2 months in Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. She said the rest of her siblings fully recovered.

Last month, she got a tattoo on her arm saying, “Love you, Mom & Dad.” It was their handwriting on a birthday card they gave her.

“It’s hard,” she said. “They were very loving and caring. They wanted you to have everything you needed and wanted, like any parent would.”

Savannah used to wonder why it happened to her.

“I have before, but not lately,” she said. “I know God had a reason to make me the way I am. Maybe to motivate other people. You can do anything you put your mind to.”

Savannah said she used to walk some with braces and crutches, but “it became easier to do everything from the wheelchair.”

She was raised by her grandparents and is getting ready to head out to college at Edinboro University.

“I pretty much do everything by myself,” she said.

Except for driving. She hopes to drive someday but needs a vehicle equipped with hand controls.

“I feel it would by the last thing to have my own freedom,” Savannah said.

She will be majoring in elementary education and wants to teach second grade.

“I feel like (second graders) are in between,” Savannah said. “They know stuff and don’t know stuff.”

She will continue being on the track this summer

“She helps a lot with Pegasus,” Kidd said. “With Ohio being in the forefront of (wheelchair track and field), she wants to be able to help it grow.”

Savannah coaches sprinters for the Pegasus Track Club in East Liverpool, a summer track club for ages 4-18.

“They just really like running with the wheelchair,” she said.

And now with a state champion.

State notes

¯ Nign finished with nine state track medals, finishing in the top four in the 100 race all four years.

¯ Nign is the second Columbiana County athlete to compete in the state wheelchair state meet, now in its 12th season.

Wellsville’s Michael Reiner was the first wheelchair athlete in Ohio history to compete at state four years (2013-16).

¯ What event would Nign do if she could run?

“I think I would pole vault,” she said.