Intense work fuels Jackson's monster performance

KYRI JACKSON / Photo courtesy of Detroit Titans Sports Info

BY JORGE REYNA / VN SPORTS EDITOR

Senior sprinter Kyri Jackson was a monster in the Horizon League Track and Field Championship.

She placed first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.61, setting a new school record, and she placed third in the long jump with 5.72 meters.

Jackson also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with another school-record time of 24.81.

The achievement followed a season in which she was not on the podium.

The turnaround required an immense amount of work, and it paid off. 

“I had to refocus and look at everything that went wrong, one of them being the mentality not just in competition but also in practices and how I could be different this year,” she said. 

Although she is proud of the records she has set at the university, she says it doesn’t feel much different.

Jackson is open about her pride wearing Titan red, white and blue and the mark she wants to leave when she is gone.

“Once I committed to this school I knew I wanted to leave my mark and do something good. When I did it, I was like ‘finally’ because I’ve been working for four years. It just felt like something I was meant to do,” she said.

Although her outdoor season is on pause due to the coronavirus, Jackson was still able to set her mark.

Jackson spoke about her preparation like many athletes through faith and prayer in an interview with the Horizon League.

 “First, I pray. I have to have a stable mindset,” she said. “I don’t get defeated because you could do bad at one event and have it mess up your day.”

Jackson is also vocal on social media about her Titan pride.

On the Detroit Mercy Titans Instagram page, she acknowledged her incredible early-March performance.

Jackson responded, “Happy to be a Titan!”