State champion!

OCHS junior Ashontae Jackson’s win in the State AA 400 meters last week made her the Hornets’ first girls outdoor track champion since 1993.

By: Staff | Orange County Review
Published: June 04, 2009

Train hard. Practice. And grow a little.
Those were Ashontae Jackson's secrets to a state title in the 400 meters at last week's State AA Track Meet at Harrisonburg High School.
A year after finishing third in the event, the OCHS junior was crowned a state champion last week with a time of 56.68, more than a second faster than her closest competitor.
"I was really excited and a little shocked," she said Tuesday after her weekend win. Her explanation for success was simple. "I trained harder, practiced harder and I got a little taller." A pretty simple recipe for state success.
"She's running a second faster this year," OCHS track coach Renee Almond said. "With her injury lingering from the indoor season, she got some rest early in the outdoor season. But, she's got the experience and she wanted it. She's got a lot of natural talent."
In addition to her 400 win, Jackson took third in the 200 meters with a time of 25.72.
She was the only Hornet to place in last week's AA meet and her points (16) alone got the Hornet girls a tie for 14th place, 36 points behind winner Blacksburg High School (52).
Western Albemarle was the boys meet winner with 48 points. More than 50 teams were represented.
Jackson is the first OCHS outdoor track girls state champion since Vanessa Lindsay won the 100 meters in 1993.
"We took more kids to the state meet than I expected," Almond said. "A number of them were sophomores. We're still looking for more athletes and hopefully, we'll do even better next year."
With a state championship medal in her possession, Jackson knows she'll be the one everyone's gunning for next season.
In the meantime, she says she needs to keep practicing and training hard to get faster. And maybe even grow a little taller?

State champion!

Share This:

More from this channel:

Reader Comments

Post a Comment (Please Sign In | Register)

Deal of the Day

Snap Photos

Weather