OT: I Need Your Help With the MGo Vote Cannon
Last weekend was the Michigan high school state championship for track and field. Mlive is hosting a poll for overall track MVP.
One of the kids who was nominated is my cousin Kaila Jackson. Of the 9 kids on the list, there are 6 seniors and 2 juniors. She is the only freshman nominated. She has had SEC speed she was about 9 years old.
This is what she did as at the meet (keep in mind, this girl is 14):
Kaila Jackson, Fr., Detroit Renaissance
- Jackson was 0.05 seconds away from having four state titles on the day. Instead, she settled for three with one runner up. Despite being only a freshman, she dominated the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.04 -- over a half second ahead of the rest of the field. She was also part of the incredibly fast 4x100 (46.58) and 4x200 (1:37.20) championships teams. Her only defeat was in the 100 meter dash, finishing with a time of 11.93, just four hundredths behind Qe’Neisha Young of East Kentwood (11.89).
If this girl didn't weigh 75 lbs, I would suggest she start at TB for Michigan next season.
Last summer she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Once they got her treatment under control, she finished the summer as AAU national runner up in the 14 yr old division for 100 and 200 meter dash, and national champion in both relays. They actually set the national record for the 100 meter relay.
Voted!
Thanks for your vote. Vote early and often.
Done! She is gonna get her college paid for! Now that we have a rooting interest please keep us up on her progress.
Addition: Kaila is in third place about 5,500 votes behind. LET'S GET GOING.
Wow, KJ can fly! I am going to treat this like a Chicago election. There will be many dead family members voting for her.
I was treating this like a Gangs of New York election. Send a guy in there with a beard then shave him and send him back in to vote again.
SPEED IN SPACE !!!
Like Fred Jackson, but smaller, much younger and faster!
This is fantastic and so appropriate.
Saw she was in third place. UM voting cannon away!!
Just voted. She's still in third.
Even if she doesn't win, we'll be doing this every year for the next three years.
There is a lot of ground to make up. C’mon MGoBloggers, show your strength and vote!
If you reload the page, you can vote again. Up to something like 30 times if you’re bored at work.
Seems like she'd be a likely recipient of scholarship offers from colleges with strong track & field programs. Is she college-bound, and if so does she have any interest in U-M yet?
(I tried to find videos of her championship performances but the only stuff I found was behind a paywall.)
The only video I found was of her coming in 2nd in the 100M. She is definitely going to college somewhere. Both of her parents are college educated. She is a good student at Renaissance. Her father is the Sprint coach for their track club which is basically Detroit PAL. They have some serious speed in that club.
Her father played football for Cincinnati. Her sister is at a smaller school playing volleyball.
I don't know enough about sprinting to know if a girl this fast is tracking toward elite college athletics or the tracking toward the Olympics.
If I'm going to the olympics, I'm signing with the school with the best track program that I can find. If not, I'm signing with the best academic school that offers a full ride like Michigan/Stanford/Ivy League. It's still early. The girl was in middle school last year.
My wife's older cousin ran track for Michigan at some point in the 90s. As far as I know she left with sprint records that have since been broken. So I know it can be done at Michigan. I had no idea she was that good until I went into her basement and saw what looked like a cosmetic counter case (that you would expect to see in a department store,) but it was full of Big Ten championship plaques and other NCAA awards/medals.
I just voted 10x. Just gotta do a CTRL+R and you can vote as often as you want.
I'll only vote if you can commit her to Michigan
I'll do what I can. I'm serious about her replacing Evans next season if he still isn't eligible.
I VOTED. A couple times, so far.
Let's do this.
voted. it will be interesting to see her progression in the sport. the leader in the poll had a pretty good showing as well
Hannah Hollister, Jr., Corunna
- Hollister collected three state titles in the Division 2 championships. She won the 300-meter hurdles in 44.12, then two events later, took first place in the 200 dash (25.26). She also ran the anchor leg on Corunna’s winning 4x100 relay team (49.56). She also finished third in the 100 hurdles (14.75). All of her times were school records.
The girl in 2nd place currently also won 3 state titles (2 individual, 1 relay).
The guy in 6th place, Noah Stallworth, won 3 titles and will be running at Michigan next year.
I mean, you can't really go wrong, but I voted 9 times for Kaila Jackson because HOLY CRAP FRESHMAN??? with one symbolic vote for future Wolverine, Noah Stallworth.
Voted x 25 or so...
MGOVOTE CANNON
I can't vote at work - access was denied by the local firewall. But I'll cannon-up later today when I get home!
COACH GATTIS HAS ENTERED THE CHAT
voted about 15 times.
Voted!
Go Kaila!
I got you, Chalky.
I voted for her several times. That being said, this seems like a dumb way to select an MVP.
I get the impression that this isn't exactly sanctioned by the MHSAA. I think it's just a newspaper poll designed to get clicks on a website. I'm proud of the best athlete my family will ever see and figured I would beg for some votes.
She has my 24 votes!
voted. currently in 3rd with nearly 21% of vote
Just cast 25 more (3602-3627). Hope it helps.
Just voted 15 times, will try to do it again later. Rigging elections is fun. That Hannah kid is definitely working with the Russians.
Voted. Gotta support Phoenix students (wife went to Renaissance).