Expecting success, Flanagan’s Jassani Carter repeats as double state track champ

As a junior, Jassani Carter shocked herself by winning Class 4A championships in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

As a senior, she expected to bring two more gold medals back to Pembroke Pines and she did. It’s why the Flanagan sprinter is the Miami Herald’s Broward County Girls’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

For the second straight season, Carter won 4A titles in the 100 and 200 dashes, and her Falcons were the top South Florida team in 4A, finishing fifth last month in Gainesville.

“It was really fun this year, more than last year,” Carter said. “I was really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect.”

Carter also added a bronze medal in the 1,600 relay and finished eighth in the 400 relay.

Her times in the 100 and 200 made her one of the best sprinters in the United States and one of the most sought after recruits in the Class of 2022. Her time of 23.13 seconds in the 200 at the 4A championship was the fifth-fastest in the country among all seniors.

Next year, she’ll run for the USC Trojans.

High-profile programs started reaching out to her after her sophomore season — a year cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Until then, she never really thought about running at the next level, she said.

It helps explain why she felt the way she did about her two state titles in

2021.

“That was really unbelievable. You can watch my race. When I came through the line, I was just like shocked. After the race, I was shocked. I was a little confused,” she said. “I came across the line with a big smile on my face.”

It set the stage for an

even better senior year. It was the “expectation” to repeat in both events in 2022, Carter said, and she never finished worse than second in the 100 or

worse than fourth in the 200 all year.

Her season-best times in both events were the second-best in all of Florida.

Now, Carter, who has

been competing in track and field since she was 6, is ready to take on an even bigger challenge in the Pac-12 Conference.

“Over the years, you

really do learn to fall in love with it,” Carter said. “It takes you different places and I can’t wait to see the world through track.”

MATIAS J. OCNER mocner@miamiherald.com Flanagan’s Jassani Carter swept the 100 and 200 meters at the Class 4A state track and field championship meet to cap a successful career before she heads to college to run for the USC Trojans.