Jaslyn Russell is headed for the AAU Junior Olympics in Humble, Texas, from Saturday, July 31, to Saturday, August 7, after qualifying for the meet in two separate track events.
Russell qualified for Texas meet by placing third in the discus (score of 104-4) and fourth in the shot put (score of 33-7.75) competitions at Southeast LA Roadrunners AAU Regionals Championship in Hammond.
Russell is a member of the Leesville Youth Track Club in Leesville, under the direction of Coach Troy Jackson, Coach Laura Aceveo and Coach Gregory Wright Sr. The organization has a Facebook™ page under its name. The club qualified 21 of its members for the Texas meet, according to Jackson.
Russell is a senior at Oakdale High School and will represent Allen and Vernon parishes at the AAU Junior Olympics.
She is the daughter of Thomas and Deirdre Russell of Oakdale and the granddaughter of Edward and Rose Coleman and Thomas and Juanita Russell, all of Oakdale.
Besides track at Oakdale High, Russell also plays basketball, softball and is a member of band. She has been a member of the school’s track team since her freshman year.
This is her first year in the AAU organization. She was invited by a person she met at the state track meet and introduced to Coach Jackson in Leesville.
Her father said in the beginning, they traveled to Leesville three to four time a week for practice. Now she only travels once a week. She uses the other days in Oakdale to practice locally.
When she isn’t involved in sports or band, Russell likes to play music and games. She is the youngest of three children. She maintains a 3.5 GPA.
On her recent wins, she said, “I feel good about it.” She said she stays focused in competition by “seeing if I can pass the other contestants up.” She also likes to study other athletes different techniques when at competitions. “If I feel it will work for me then I will go home and practice it,” she said.
Jackson is looking forward to her upcoming competition. Good luck!
