FultonCounty senior Sharika Smith won the AAU Junior Games National title in the Triple Jump with a personal best of 40-00.
Sharika had previously jumped 39-0 in 2005 as a freshman and 39-3.25 this year as a
junior to twice break the Kentucky High School State Record at the State Meet in
that event.Last year Sharika took the Silver Medal in the USA Track & Field Jr.
Olympics for the Intermediate Girls age group (15-16 yr. olds) with a jump of 38-10.
Now, competing at the young end of the 17-18 yr. old age group, Sharika had jumped
37-11 at both the AAU District and Regional Qualifiers leading up to the
Jr.Olympics.Smith beat out 43 other girls to to win the National Title today with
4 out of her 6 allowed jumps landing over her state record mark and surpassing the
next best competitor by over a foot.
Smith holds the Overall Kentucky State Record in the Triple Jump and the Class A Record in the 200m Dash. Both were set this past year at the KHSAA State Track Meet.
She also participated in the Long Jump on Monday placing 18th out of 42 with a jump
of 17-00, and ran the 200m Dash on Tuesday with a time of 25.79.