Asha Stegall is a proven winner, both on her own and as part of a collective unit. Three times she is a region-champion runner on the track, and she almost single-handedly made Warner Robins High a three-time home for a girls basketball region tournament trophy.
This weekend, Stegall looks to add repeat state champion to the already impressive list of accomplishments she can take with her to the track and field team at Georgia Southern University.
Practicing on the same track Monday at McConnell-Talbert Stadium for the same meet – but representing a different school – was Northside High freshman Cassondra Hall. She’s already a national champion sprinter before she ever ran a meet for Northside, so her dual title wins for Region 2-AAAAA in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes had to come as no surprise to the track and field world.
Hall kept on winning when the track ‘playoffs’ moved to the sectional round on April 27 at Grovetown High, the same location as her region victories. Hall won both races there, and now the final step is to add state champion to her own little growing list.
The GHSA girls track and field meet begins Thursday at Hugh Mills Stadium in Albany. The preliminaries for sprints take place Friday with the finals slated for Saturday.
One year ago, Stegall was victorious in the 400-meter dash finals in 55.81 seconds.
“I had a pretty bad year that year,” said Stegall. “I did better actually in my sophomore year. I could have done better. My (personal record) is 55.54. This year I am trying to get my PR and break the school record again.”
Stegall must have really thought things were regressing when she ran in the Region 2-AAAAA meet in mid-April at Grovetown High. She finished third in preliminaries at 58.73 seconds. Shaking off that disappointment, Stegall stormed through the finals to win for the third year in a row at 56.35. Tia Williams of Northside, who was ahead of Stegall in the prelims, finished second at 56.92.
The 400 meters is somewhere between a sprint and a distance marathon-type run. It’s basically one lap around the track, a human version of the Kentucky Derby.
“It’s a mind game,” said Stegall. “It’s technique. If you sprint the whole way, you’re going to be dead by the time you hit 200. If you go slow, you are going to be losing by the time you get to 200.
“My strategy is to do what I do best. I really don’t have a strategy for it. I just go out and run. At 100 (to go), I give it all I got.”
In the sectional round, 16 total qualifiers from four regions got together and were split up into two different heats. The top eight times, regardless of heat, earned a spot in this weekend’s state meet.
Stegall’s 400-meter heat was first, and she won it at 57.22 seconds. In the next heat, Lauren Jackson of Dunwoody High beat out Stegall by 0.02 seconds. Stegall said she didn’t get a chance to see Jackson run because runners had to go another area of the venue.
“In prelims, I’m going to try to make sure I get a good time,” said Stegall, referring to preferable lane positioning for the final race. She is also running the 200 meters with the goal of placing in the top three.
As much as winning state was huge for Stegall, it would be hard to top the region tournament championship win for the Warner Robins Demonettes this year. Stegall had 11 of her team’s 13 overtime points in an 11-point victory against Evans High.
“When the fourth quarter hit, I was skeptical,” she said about an 11-point deficit. “My teammate Destini (Johnson) told me, ‘We need you to take over. We don’t care if you have to ball-hawk. We’re not stepping up, so we need you to step up.’ I took what she told me and gave it all I got.”
Stegall never had to be a big basketball scorer before, playing with Kenyona Armstrong, Diamond Hudson and Danielle Gazaway.
“Danielle, that was my role model,” she said. “Dimp. Diamond. I always looked up to them. With them leaving, I knew it was my time as a senior. I used to always facilitate to them since I was point guard. I did have some good help from Kate Hill a lot this year.”
There’s another major event for Stegall in May. She’s earned honor graduate status taking college-prep classes, and at Georgia Southern she plans to study fields that will lead her to physical therapy. Her main message to student-athletes that sports are no excuse to slack in the classroom.
FROSH PHENOM
Hall looked first and foremost to the Lord for her athletic gifts. She said with His help and the push from her teammates, she found the motivation to work hard and earn these winning times.
At sectionals, Hall won both the 100 (11.67) and 200 (23.86) in one-tenth of a second. She also had 11.67 to handily win the region sprint, and her sectional 200 represented a 0.02 improvement from the region meet.
“It’s been a Godly success,” said Hall, who only runs track for Northside. “God’s helping me through the training, eating right. My family is supporting me. It feels good.”
Track and field wasn’t something Hall discovered in high school. She began her training through AAU and competed at last year’s Junior Olympics in Houston, Texas. As part of her club, Hall would first compete in district in Atlanta.
“I learned the basics of running and how to improve my technique,” she said. “I got better and faster. I’ve been dedicated to it.”
At the AAU Olympic event, Hall, in 15-16 year olds, won the 100 at 11.76 and 200 at 24.16. She did not win preliminaries in either event, but is a two-time national champion. Hall has a pretty good idol when it comes to track in Flo-Jo, the late Florence Griffin Joyner, from whom she’s learned to relax and run as hard as she can.
Now, Hall is looking forward to her first GHSA championships where she will continue to run against girls as much as three years older than she is.
“I’m new to the game … really excited,” she said. “I feel some PR’s coming, trying to get my own school records. That’s going to be amazing.”
By the time Hall gets to her senior year, it will also be time for another summer Olympic games.
“My long term goal is I’m trying to get to the Olympics in 2016,” she said. “That’s always where I want to go, so I’m staying dedicated to this. I want to go to college, LSU or Oregon.”
Hall has a chance to score three times for Northside in state as she is also on the mile relay team. With entries in six events, the Lady Eagles have a chance to accumulate points for a top five showing in the team standings. One other who could score big is Mekaela Witherspoon, the 2-AAAAA champion in the discus throw.
Witherspoon actually changed her discus technique mid-season, something she credits for her success. Also the champion of the shot put, she did not qualify for state in this event, but hopes to improve on that come her junior season.
“Without my coaches and teammates for competition, I wouldn’t have made it,” she said. “I’m very nervous (about state). It’s my first year, and I know several people are going to be so much bigger than me. It’s terrifying. My goal is to reach 130 feet.”
She won’t have to worry about any of these bigger athletes trying to block her throws, which is different when she’s playing basketball for Cassaundra Wilson.
“For discus and shot, we do a lot of squatting and weight training,” she said. “That helps me with my legs for defensive slides in basketball.”
• Also competing at the state meet for Class AAAAA is Kiara Jackson of Houston County High in the 100 meters and triple jump. From Class AAAA, Perry High’s Abby Booth will run in the one-mile and 800 meters, and from Veterans High Bethanie Bailey and Josi Giovinazzo will run both the mile and two-mile.
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