Here she comes again. Legs pumping high, arms with noticeably more lean muscle and that look of sheer determination on her face.
LaQuisha Jackson poses in her ready stance recently at the Howard track.
Staff Photo by Allison Carter/Chattanooga Times Free PressIn her first two seasons of varsity competition Howard High School sprinter LaQuisha Jackson is already the state’s most decorated sprinter in recent history. But driven by the concern that somewhere – whether in-state or outside Tennessee’s borders – a competitor is outworking her, she spent most every day of the offseason in the weight room or working on getting out of the starting blocks quicker.
And that is bad news for every other girl who steps to the starting line against her.
“I’m preparing myself to be the best sprinter in the U.S.,” said Jackson, who has been the top female sprinter in Tennessee since her freshman year at Howard. “I don’t care how much extra work I have to do after practice or whatever. You never know who is out there trying to beat your times or be better, so I’m not going to let anybody outwork me. I want to see how much better I can be.
“There’s a reason the Olympics are in 2012, the summer after I graduate. It’s because God has big plans for me. I see myself running in the Olympics.”