Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 10-8-21

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Young Athlete Turning Heads In Track And Field
J’Nai with some of the medallions she has won.
Ranked number one in the nation in shot put and discus
J’Nia Simpson is not your average 13-year-old. She is a stellar athlete who com- petes in the shot put, discus, and javelin track and field events with Tampa Trailblaz- ers Youth Athletic Ministry. She has been with the group since 2018.
She broke onto the scene and it was evident from the beginning that she would bring something very special to the sport of track and field, her coach explained.
J'Nia traveled the track and field circuit in Florida that year and competed in the AAU Club Nationals Meet at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, where she placed third in the shot put and 10th overall in the turbo javelin.
The following year, at age 11, J'Nia picked up a discus for the very first time. She competed all season in discus, shot put, and javelin and rep- resented her team in the AAU Club Nationals. This time she placed first in the shot put, first in discus, and fourth in javelin. She also broke the na- tional record for shot put at this competition before con- tinuing on to compete for the first time at AAU Jr. Olympics, where she placed first in discus and second in shot put.
In 2020, there was no sea- son for competition due to COVID. However, J’Nia con- tinued to remain active via off season track and field prac- tice and cheering.
Now she is coming off of an extremely successful 2021
season. J'Nia went unde- feated in both shot put and discus, and was a top con- tender in the javelin. She is currently ranked number one in the nation in shot put and discus and also broke the age group national record in shot put at the AAU Club Nation- als in Orlando, Florida again this year.
J'Nia traveled to the AAU Jr. Olympic Games in Hous- ton, Texas earlier this sum- mer, where she had an impressive win in the shot put with a personal best of 46'-4 1/4" - almost 5 feet farther than the second place com- petitor. In the same week she competed in the discus, where she placed first and won the event by throwing the implement 117'-09," a personal best for her, and 9 feet further than the second place competitor.
J'Nia adds a great com- petitive mindset to a success- ful throwing team composed of national champions and quite a few All Americans. The team, under the leader- ship of Coach Tia Peoples, also saw success from Malik Williams who placed in the top 8 at AAU Club Nationals as well as a 3rd place finish in the javelin from Kaleb Williams at the AAU Jr. Olympics.
Aside from this, J'Nia at- tends Ferrell Girls Prepara- tory Academy where she is in the 8th grade and maintains good grades. She loves to spend time with her mother, Brenda Simpson, father, Jamar Simpson and a host of other siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins. She hopes to continue on her path which she wants to use to ob- tain a scholarship to college as well as compete in the Olympics!
Trailblazers finished off their 2021 season with a pic- nic to recognize all the ath-
letes for the hard work and dedication. Team members are: Jacelyn McDougald, Irene James, Ty'Prenceia Hamilton, Jae'Marie Stuckey, Roquavia Walker, Mason Telfair, Marcus Telfair, Jeremiah Godfrey, Michael Williams, Julius Brocks, Jonathan Brocks, Major
J’Nai’s personal best in throwing the discus – another first place win.
First place winner, J’Nai with the other 3 winners.
Sims, Ernie Sims, IV, Joshua McDougald, Kevin N'Dambani, Kirin Karver, Travis Jarvis, De- cari Wilson, Jacob Blair,
Elijah Baskin, Jaxson Wright, Marcus Fergu- son, Mario Ferguson, Isa- iah Balthazar, and Emiliano Mireles.
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