Jia Anderson Owned The Straightaways At DIAA State Champs


Padua Academy junior Jia Anderson simply owned the straightaways of the Prince George's County Sportsplex on Saturday for the DIAA State Indoor Championships.


Anderson, an overwhelming favorite in the girls 55 meter hurdles as the state leader and currently ranked just outside of the US top 20 in the event, won the finals of that event with ease in a 8.21 performance to successfully defend her title from a year ago.



The title that eluded her last year as a runner-up in the finals at the 2019 DIAA State Indoor Championships was the 55 meter dash. Competing against the likes of St. George's Tech junior Charlee Crawford who also had high aspirations to win all 3 sprint events on the day (which she won 2 of them in the 400 and 200 meter dash), Anderson was able to pull out the narrow victory over Crawford with a personal best clocking of 7.20. She had been seeded 3rd after the preliminary round. 

Anderson's performances including a 3rd place finish in the long jump and member of their winning 4x400 meter relay helped elevate their team to the overall DIAA state team title on the day with 114 points over Smyrna in second place with 112 points.