From national championships to NCAA records, junior sprinters Aleia Hobbs and Mikiah Brisco know a thing or two about running fast.
Brisco finished her junior season as a national champion in the 100 meter at the historic Hayward Field running a 10.96.
“It’s still unreal when I look at the race and see what time I ran because that’s a personal best time,” she said.
In previous seasons, Brisco was running hurdles along with the 100 meter sprint and the 4×100 meter relay.
Things changed this year as she and coach Dennis Shaver decided she would cut out the hurdles and focus on the other two events.
“This year we decided that I wasn’t going to be doing the hurdles because of the time frame in between [the events at meets],” Brisco said. “It was like 10 minutes in between the hurdles and the 100. Throughout fall training and all the way to the national track meet we were just working on my technique in the 100 and eventually it paid off last week when I ran at nationals.”
The national championships went slightly different for Hobbs, though.
Hobbs, along with Brisco, competed in the 100 meter sprint and the 4×100 meter relay.
She finished fifth in the 100 meter sprint after running some of her fastest times all season long, but she couldn’t help but be excited for her teammate.
“It was really just mixed emotions,” Hobbs said. “What Mikiah did is the only thing that kept me up. That was the only thing that lifted me up really.”
Hobbs ran a personal best in the 100 meter earlier in the season and smashed the previous record at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium with a 10.85.
The previous record was a 10.96 set in 2012 by former Tiger Kimberly Duncan.
Not to mention, Hobbs’ time was the fastest 100 meter time of the 2017 outdoor season of all collegiate track.
At the inaugural SEC relays, the 4×100 meter relay team ran a collegiate record-tying 42.12 second race and broke their own school record they had just set two weeks prior.
Hobbs, Brisco, sophomore Kortnei Johnson and senior Jada Martin ran the second-fastest time in collegiate history at 42.14 at the Mt. SAC Relays on April 15.
Coming into the 2017 season, the 4×100 meter relay record stood for 28 years, originally set by Tananjalyn Stanley, Dawn Sowell, Cinnamon Sheffield and Esther Jones.
The relay team of Hobbs, Brisco, Johnson and Martin were a force to be reckoned with heading into the NCAA championships; however, they didn’t make it past the preliminary round.
“During prelims we ran out of the zone,” Hobbs said. “So basically if you run out of the zone you’re disqualified. It sucked because that was our race. We’re going to be straight, but I know [Jada Martin] wanted to go out with a championship.”
Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon is every track and field athlete’s dream. Opened in 1919, the history behind the stadium makes it that much more special, but Brisco is no stranger to running there.
Brisco has qualified for the national championships each year she has been at LSU.
“For someone who runs track,” Brisco said, “You’re not going to get that feeling everywhere. Embrace Hayward Field if you can.”
Hayward Field holds over 10,000 people and many come out to watch some of the best track and field in the country.
“It’s a lot people,” Hobbs said. “You just have to zone the crowd out. At least use them to motivate you. Don’t get nervous. It’s the biggest meet you’re ever going to go to during the season. You just have to really zone in to what you’re about to do.”
But running at nationals isn’t enough for Brisco, she wants more for her final season as an LSU Tiger.
“We haven’t won a team title since I’ve been here so that’s of course one goal is to win a team title,” Brisco said. “I’m fortunate enough to have an indoor SEC champion title under my name, so I want an outdoor SEC title. Thank God I got a national title, but it’s something to work towards next year again to repeat that. I just want my team to win an SEC championship and a national championship next year.”
Brisco and Hobbs had to transition roles and become leaders coming into their junior season.
“In our sprint group,” Brisco said, “We’ve had the same group for the last couple of years, but this year we had a big freshman class come in so just knowing that people I recruited were here, it wasn’t pressure on myself, but I knew I had to step my game up so that they would work hard as well.”
Aside from a role change, Hobbs feels that she matured both on and off the track heading into her junior year.
Hobbs was limited during her sophomore season due to a knee surgery she had done.
“My junior year was one of the best years I’ve had since I’ve been at LSU,” Hobbs said. “From the PRs to my health to basically everything.”
Hobbs collected multiple awards throughout the season as she emerged as one of the top sprinters in the country including the South Central Region Women’s Track Athlete of the Year.
“It was the most rewards I’ve got since I’ve been here,” she said. “I just couldn’t believe it. It was really motivating me to keep getting more.”
Brisco and Hobbs’ next challenge will be to compete for a spot on the USA National Team and run at the World Championships.
The duo made the junior national team their freshman seasons.
“I have a little experience running with the senior team, or the senior level athletes last year at the Olympic trials,” Brisco said. “Now I have a better mindset of how to prepare and how to run through the rounds at this World [Championship] trials. I’m excited, nervous, but I’m anxious to see how I’m going to do.”
Running together is something Brisco and Hobbs are used to, as they’ve been doing so long before they were teammates at LSU.
Their dominance on the track makes them each better athletes and helps them to push each other to the limit.
“We ran against each other in high school and [during] the summers we got on a team together so we were on the same team and running against each other,” Hobbs said. “We’ve been doing this for a long time together.”
“Aleia has always been dominate in track and field so just to be able to work with her and feed off her energy and off of her performances is just amazing,” Brisco said. “That’s why I was able to run as good as I did at nationals because she told me the right technique, how I’m running, how I need to get out of the blocks. Just having her as a training partner is a major benefit for me because she ran the fastest time in college this year. Having that person train with me every day is huge.”