COLUMBUS — Never in Willard High School history has there every been a female individual state champion.
Not just in track and field. In any sport.
That is until senior La Mya Hicks won the Division IV girls long jump state championship on Thursday, June 4, at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Jesse Owens State Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Hicks needed just one jump to record the winning distance, posting an 18-02.25 right out of the gate. She finished well ahead of North Union’s Gabby Lindsey, who took runner-up honors with a 17-09.
“It is crazy to be the first girl in my school to win this,” Hicks said. “Last year, I came up short and that fueled me to just want to go all out and win it my senior year. I wanted to win it for myself and my school.”
Hicks made it to state last season as a junior and finished 11th with a 16-04 and improved by nearly two feet over the last 12 months to claim her state championship.
“It took a lot of learning and a lot of practice,” Hicks said. “Last year was my first year even doing long jump. I was surprised when I made it last year, but knew this year was going to be different. I worked so hard to get here.”
Hicks wasn’t the only Willard Flashes jumper on the podium. Senior Cora Clark came out of nowhere to take third and earn All-Ohio honors when she recorded a 17-07.50 on her first jump of the finals, a place she barely made it to after recording a 16-04 in the preliminary round.
Hicks admitted having Clark in the finals with her allowed her to jump with very little pressure.
“It was so cool to have Cora here because this is her first year trying long jump,” Hicks said. “She just got into it and to get that big of a PR at this place is incredible.”
Clark was the story of the first day of the state meet. She earned an at-large bid out of the regional. She was the very last person to grab an at-large bid and she turned it into a third-place finish at the state championships and an All-Ohio honor.
“It is so special to me,” Clark said. “I came in as a plus 3, barely made it to finals and then hit a PR in the finals to finish Top 3. It is so incredible.”
So incredible that she cannot even explain how it happened, but she had one person she wanted to make sure took some credit for her epic performance.
“I have no idea how that happens,” Clark said. “But I am glad it did and I am so happy we ended up No. 1 and 3. La Mya has such a positive mindset and it helps so much to have someone like her to warm up with. She makes you believe you can do anything no matter what. She is so positive and she makes this experience fun.”
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Willard’s Hicks wins schools first female state track championships
Reporting by Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal | USA TODAY Network
