Kashaeyla Brooks never used her youth as an excuse this season.
But the Columbus High School sophomore admitted she was nervous Monday as she prepared for the finals of 300-meter hurdles in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State meet.
It didn’t matter that Brooks had finished second in the event at the 2011 Class 6A State meet. In Brooks’ eyes, she looked at juniors from Meridian, Gulfport, and Warren Central as formidable foes who could prevent her from winning a state title.
Time — not age — is the only thing that matters on a track.
Brooks drove home that point with a time of 44.70 seconds to win her first state title. Her finish helped the Columbus High girls finish ninth with 31 points.
“I was just going to go out there and try my best,” Brooks said. “I thought I was going to lose. I just went out there and did my thing.”
Brooks also teamed with Quaneisha Aaron, Cacovia Millsap, and Sky Samuel to finish second in the 4×200 relay (1 minute, 43.69 seconds) and Aaron, Tania Jones, Samuel, and Aaron to take fourth in the 4×400 (4:09.28). Samuel was sixth in the 100 (12.23) and fourth in the 200 (24.93).
Brooks said it didn’t bother her that the meet, which was scheduled for Saturday, had to be pushed back to Monday due to rain. She said she felt “real ready” Saturday but still came back to post a personal-best time. Her time is one of the fastest in the event in state this season.
“I ran a lot Sunday and got my body loose,” said Brooks, who ran about two miles Sunday. “I was just ready to run.”
Columbus High girls track and field coach Yvonne Hairston had hoped Brooks would be able to get back to the seed time of 45.34 she had entering the 2011 Class 6A State meet. She recorded a time of 46.86 to take second to Hattiesburg senior Taryn Hatfield.
But Hairston said it took Brooks a while to get back into the 45-second range. When she did, she was in the high-45s, so she wasn’t sure if Brooks was going to find her rhythm in time to get back on the podium at Pearl High.
“She was determined to win,” Hairston said. “She didn’t have a lot of competition until we got to that meet. The best hurdlers were coming out of the South, but when she ran up against it she went from a 45 to a 44 because of the level of competition. If we could compete against that level of competition every week, she would be a lot better.”
Hairston said Brooks will compete in Amateur Athletic Union track and field meets in the offseason. She feels that work will help Brooks develop more confidence and will allow her to start faster for the 2012-13 school year.
“I told her next year you have to get down to the 43s,” Hairston said. “That is when you start talking SEC and Division I scholarship. I think she and Sky and some of the others girls can run on that level.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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