Not even LaQuisha Jackson can outrun the expectations.
Howard’s talented sophomore sprinter has her work cut out to improve on last year’s debut, the most decorated ninth-grade season ever for a Chattanooga athlete.
Jackson won four first-place medals at the Spring Fling state meet, dominating the Class AA field in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and helping the Lady Hustlin’ Tigers’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams win easily. Her 11.87 seconds in the 100 was the fastest time for all three girls’ classifications, and her 24.51 in the 200 was four-tenths of a second off a 30-year-old state record.
She followed that up in August by breaking a 29-year-old AAU national record in the 400-meter dash. In that same meet, she finished second in the 200 and the 100.
“I already feel the pressure, and the season hasn’t even started,” Jackson said this week. “I know everybody is expecting a lot from me. Every race people are watching, and everybody is trying to beat me.