Track & Field

Haiti Native Sets High School Sprint Record as 8th Grader

ALEXANDRIA, MN, USA (defend.ht) - Before ever attending a day of high school Wensia Johnson set a new Minnesota High School Athletic Association Class 2A meet record in the 100-meter dash.

She competed for Alexandria High School this summer, where the you Miss Johnson ran a 11.74-second 100-meter dash during the preliminary round of the Class 2A meet. Below 12 seconds is a new meet record.

A day after breaking the record, Johnson was on the medal stand twice, first as the runner-up in the 100-meter dash and then as a champion in the 200 meters.

Wensia Johnson hails from Haiti, from where she and her younger sister were adopted in 2004. Despite being thousands of miles away, Johnson insists Haiti is never far from her mind.

"When you're born in Haiti you don't have much chance," Johnson told the Star-Tribune. "So I'm doing it for all the children who don't think they can. They actually can, they just need a chance."

To the Minnesota Echo Press, Johnson said she hadn't even reached her potential yet.

"It means a lot," Johnson told the Echo Press. "I've wanted this the whole year.

"I haven't reached [my ceiling]. I can do better." That's a scary thought for anyone who plans on competing on a Minnesota track in the coming four years wrote Cameron Smith, of Yahoo! Sports.