MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- For the second year in a row, LaQuisha Jackson didn't just win every race she ran, she won over the crowd as well.
In the first three days of this year's annual Spring Fling, I've watched the state's best high school athletes compete in baseball, soccer, softball and tennis, but nothing compares to the show Jackson put on at Middle Tennessee State University's track Thursday evening.
Last year she ran the fastest girls' times in all classifications in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Thursday night, she finished those two sprints faster than any girl in state history ever has, going back to Chattanooga with blistering state-record times in both.
"I'm so happy right now, especially since my parents were here to watch me," Jackson said. "They weren't here last year, so to do this with them watching makes me feel really proud.
"Having them here to see what I did makes this the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life."
Jackson primed the crowd for something special in her first event of the night, taking the baton for the final leg of the 4x100 relay in fourth place and, much as she did last year, quickly smoked everyone in front of her for the win.
When her name was called over the P.A. system before the 100, the entire crowd of nearly 4,000 spectators rose together in anticipation of witnessing something special. Jackson did not disappoint. After University School of Nashville's Jordan Lavender ran an 11.86 in the Division II portion of the 100, Jackson answered the challenge by shattering the state record in the event with an 11.46.
In her next event, she again took the baton trailing in the final leg of the 4x200 but this time was more than 20 yards behind two other sprinters. After a shaky baton exchange that caused her to start from nearly a complete stop, she again caused a collective "Whooo!" from the crowd by picking off both runners ahead of her and winning the event by more than a second.
That's when one man sitting outside the press box turned to another and asked if he was ready to go eat. His friend furrowed his brow and said, "I ain't going anywhere until I see that little girl from Chattanooga run her last race."
Topping off her night, Jackson broke a 32-year-old state record in the 200 with a wind-aided 23.86, easily breaking the old mark of 24.14 and causing the packed stands to give her a standing ovation.
"That was crazy," Howard coach Jennifer Mitchell said. "I've never seen a whole crowd do that for one athlete. You just don't see anybody break state sprint records by that much. I'm still in shock by what she did tonight."
During an interview last week, I asked Jackson how seriously she could challenge both individual sprint records. She smiled and said, "I really want those records."
After a brief pause the smile left her face and she added, "I'm going to get those records."
"I didn't want to sound too cocky, but that's how confident I was that I was going to come over here and do this," Jackson said moments after her final race. "I knew I had worked hard, and I knew the crowd and my teammates would get me pumped up to do something special."
Before leaving the facility, former TSSAA executive director Ronnie Carter made a special point to call my cell and say: "Just wanted to say, she is the real deal. I don't remember one in a long time that impressive and creating that much of a buzz in the stands."