Born leader Sarah Lawton (Fenway)BPS Girls XC Captain 17-19 -
Originally from Dorchester, Massachusetts, Sarah Anne Lawton was introduced to track and field through her father, Barry Lawton, a mid-distance scholarship athlete at Boston University who won individual titles in New England and Yankee Conference and multiple mile-relay titles, including anchoring the 1978 winning team in the Penn Relays. Interested in beginning her running career, she began competing at the John W. McCormack Middle School, where she ran the 800 meters.
While attending Fenway High School, Lawton participated in indoor and outdoor track and field and ran on the Boston City-Wide Cross Country Team in the Fall, serving as the women’s team captain. Lawton’s accomplishments in her years as a Boston Public Schools athlete included winning eight individual City Championship titles in the 400 m, 600 m, 800 m, 1000 m, Mile, and 2 Mile runs. Additionally, Lawton received gold and silver medals in the 2-mile run and four by 400-meter relay. While on the Boston City-Wide cross country team, she accomplished being one of many BPS women athletes to hold the City’s 5k record.
Her proudest accomplishments include:
Being named Boston Public School’s Women Track Athlete of the Year
Receiving the City of Boston MVP Women’s Track & Field Award
Serving as Captain for the Fenway & Snowden Track & Field Team
After graduating high school in 2019 with a 4.0 GPA, Lawton was recruited by Suffolk University where she was a women’s team captain and competed for two seasons. While on a full-tuition scholarship at Suffolk, Lawton had the honor of being a Ronald E. McNair Scholar where she conducted federally funded research and presented at conferences at Suffolk and the University of Washington.
During her time at Suffolk, Lawton was employed at a non-profit called I Have a Future, where she advocated for more funding in the Massachusetts youth jobs budget and for youth criminal justice reform. She enjoyed working within her field of history as Visitor Experience Staff at the Old State House and Old South Meeting House Museum. Lastly, as a full-time student in her senior year of college, she was also a full-time employee with the City of Boston as the Community Partnerships Liaison for Boston City-Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia.
As a student leader, Lawton served for two- years as the Treasurer for the Suffolk University Black Student Union (BSU), Founder and chair of the BSU Outreach Committee, and Co-Founder and President of the first Student Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of MA (SU-ACLUM), and as Justice on the Student Government Association Student Judicial Review Board. Lawton was also one of many student leaders who actively fought to have the Black Studies program remain on Suffolk’s campus.
Lawton is a recent graduate of Suffolk University, graduating cum laude, and received a Bachelor of Arts in History with a concentration in Public History and a minor in Black Studies. In her free time, Lawton enjoys running with local running groups in Boston and serving as a Steering Committee member for the Boston Running Collaborative (BRC).
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