Catoosa County youth track athletes shine in Sunshine State Junior Olympic Games
A trio of Catoosa County youth athletes competed in the 2020 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympic Games Track Championships in Satellite Beach, Fla. Aug. 5-8.
Nine-year-old Alexandria Dodson, a student at Battlefield Elementary School, placed fifth nationally in her age group and second in the state of Florida in the long jump with a mark of 10-11.25. It was a new personal-best and earned her All-american honors.
She also placed fifth in the country and third in Florida for her age group in the (6 lb.) shot put with a mark of 16-6, which earned her AllAmerican honors once more.
Then she capped her weekend by winning a national title in the 1500-meter race walk in the nine-year-old age group with a time of 11:16.36. She defeated the defending national champion in the process and set a new personal best in the event, winning by 36 seconds.
Dodson now has nine AllAmerican honors and is a a two-time national track champion.
Her older sister Naudia Dodson, a 13-year-old student at Lakeview Middle School, had two top 10 finishes and picked up an AllAmerican honor in just her first season in competitive track and field.
She took seventh nationally and third in Florida with a new personal best of 294.5 in the (1 kg) shot put. She also placed ninth in the country in the discus (42-9), just missing All-american honors.
Meanwhile, seven-year-old Battlefield Primary School student Jordyn Holiday is now a four-time All-american after she placed fourth nationally and second in Florida in the 8-under (4 lb.) shot put with a mark of 15-4.25. She also took seventh in the nation and third in Florida in the 8-under long jump, recording a distance of 8-11.5 to set a new personal best.
This is Holiday’s second season of competition.
Athletes who placed in the top eight of their events earned All-american status.
All three athletes compete for Team Dodson Elite Track Club, based in Lakeland, Fla. They are coached Nick Dodson, the Director of Track and Field at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla. and the father of both Alexandria and Naudia.