Freshman Shawnti Jackson, Kaylyn Brown Roll In 55m Debut

Visit Winston-Salem HS Kickoff Results

Visit Winston-Salem Kickoff Photos by Jeff Sides

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Shawnti Jackson (Wakefield) and Kaylyn Brown (Mallard Creek) being elite immediately at the high school level shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.  They have been stars for years on the club scene with Jackson coming in with outdoor PRs of 11.57, 24.12 and 53.69 and Brown 11.93, 24.08 and 53.14.

The two would face off in a strong 55m Dash field on Saturday at the Visit Winston-Salem High School Kickoff.  They'd face the states top high school returners as well as SCHSL 100m State Champion Kaniya Johnson (White Knoll).

Brown would kick things off in a big way as she'd win her prelim section in a new state leading mark of 7.03 and would be the fastest qualifier heading into finals.  Though her 11.93 is no joke, an early 7.03 is a big step forward for the NBON Middle School 400m Champion.  

Milan Fields (Hough) would run a strong 7.11 in the prelims with Jackson at 7.22.

GIRLS 55 METER DASH PRELIMS
PLACEATHLETETEAMRESULTH#
1Kaylyn Brown9Mallard Creek7.032
2Milan Fields11Unattached AAU7.1111
3Shawnti Jackson9Wakefield7.224
4Kaniya Johnson10White Knoll7.2610
5Kaia Putman11Charlotte Country Day School7.333
6Jahzara Hart10Southeast Raleigh7.349
7Aniya Woodruff10Hickory Ridge7.352
8Nneka Udoye10Southeast Raleigh7.361


Despite the impressive prelim mark from Brown, it was Jackson who lit up the track in the finals clocking a new PR of 6.93!  Brown would edge Fields for 2nd place in 7.09 as the three would leave JDL with the top 3 times in the country early in the indoor season.

Girls National 55m Dash Rankings

Jackson's mark will be an overall PR as she won the USATF Indoor National Championships last year at 6.98.  6.93 is no joke, as it would have been US#11 at the end of the 2018-2019 season a year ago.  It also puts her tied for NC#3 all time with Gabrielle Gray and Kylia Wright.  She only trails Gabby Mayo and Tamara Clark for the top spots in state history who ran 6.81 and 6.89 respectively.  

Brown's 7.03 is also good for NC#21 All-Time Indoors.

GIRLS 55 METER DASH FINALS
PLACEATHLETETEAMRESULTH#
1Shawnti Jackson9Wakefield6.931
2Kaylyn Brown9Mallard Creek7.091
3Milan Fields11Unattached AAU7.091
4Jahzara Hart10Southeast Raleigh7.171
5Kaniya Johnson10White Knoll7.211
6Aniya Woodruff10Hickory Ridge7.281
7Nneka Udoye10Southeast Raleigh7.331
8Kaia Putman11Charlotte Country Day School7.431


This is just the first race for these two in high school uniforms.  Both could be equally as good in the 300m and 500m proven by their 400m PRs.  

4A girls sprints has also gotten a major facelift with this loaded freshman class.  They return Jonah Ross, Jahzara Hart and Ella Mainwaring Foster and add Alysia Johnson, who moved up from 3A, Akala Garrett a freshman star a Harding as well as Shawnti Jackson and Kaylyn Brown!