No track on South Side's campus is no problem for two Lady Hawk athletes

JACKSON – South Side sophomore Makayla Transou is the No. 2 qualifier in the long jump event in the Class A-AA state championship meet in Murfreesboro on Thursday.

Kaeli Sain, another sophomore at South Side, is the No. 4 qualifier in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.51.

Since South Side doesn’t have track facilities, both athletes have had to find alternate ways to practice and improve in their respective events. Those methods have apparently worked since they’re each part of the final eight individual competitors in the state championship.

“I think it shows both girls’ work ethic and determination,” said Lady Hawks coach Margaret Livingston. “We didn’t have anywhere on campus for them to get work in, so they each went out and found it.”

Sain has been running on tracks she can get on throughout the city, including the one at Hollywood Park and the one on the campus at Madison Academic. Both track surfaces are in need of repair, but she was able to practice on both.

“I don’t need the entire track, just one stretch of 100 meters,” Sain said. “So I was able to run on both of those.”

She also did find a stretch to use in the past week on South Side’s campus.

“I ran down the hallways at school,” Sain said. “We measured off 100 meters, and I ran when there were no other students there.

“It wasn’t any different than running outside, so I’m glad I found somewhere to run.”

Sain’s mother is South Side athletic director and assistant principal Casshawndra Sain, who competed at the state meet in the 100-meter dash herself. She hasn’t run against her daughter in practice yet.

Transou competed at the track meet last year and finished seventh as a freshman in the long jump. She had to work a little harder to find somewhere to practice, but she and her father did find a place on the other end of town.

“We went to North Park and saw there are sand volleyball courts there,” Transou said. “We found one of them that has a flat area big enough on one side to run for a long jump try, and I was able to use that.”

Until she started using the volleyball court, most of Transou’s work came in South Side’s gym with girls basketball coach Brent McNeal. Both girls were also on the Lady Hawks basketball team that made it to the state tournament in March.

“He’s been working with me on jumping and getting the right muscles and form and everything, and it helped,” Transou said. “But it wasn’t the same as actually doing the long jump.”

The work helped as Transou said her length of 18-feet-6-inches is by far her personal best and won the sectional meet by more than a foot.

All girls track events are on Thursday at Middle Tennessee State University. Transou will compete in the long jump at 10:30 a.m. Sain’s 100-meter dash is the third event on the list with all running events set to start at 3 p.m.

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.