* Adaejah Hodge celebrates after clocking a new 200m national record of 22.76 in Saturday's prelims at New Balance Nationals Indoor.
Photo Credit: Cara Mooney/MileSplit
- - -
BOSTON, Mass. -- When Montverde Acadmey (FL) junior Adaejah Hodge crossed the finish line in her 200m prelim on Saturday, the crowd broke out into audible gasps.
Then came the screams and cheers as the time flashed on the board.
Hodge saw the 22.77 time flash on the screen and immediately began dancing around the track, pumping her fists and jumping up and down.
"At first, I didn't recognize what it was, but then I looked at (the time) again and I was like, 'Wait, oh my Gosh. What did I just do?'" Hodge told Olivia Ekpone after the race.
That jaw-dropping performance makes Hodge the newest national high school record-holder, a coveted title that comes in just her opening 200m round at New Balance Nationals Indoor. The high school national record has now been broken twice in 2023.
And then there's this: After a 16-year-old gap of no high school girl breaking 23 seconds indoors, three have done it this year alone -- perhaps crazier, Shawnti Jackson accomplished the feat again on Saturday, too.
Hodge's 22.77 smashes the previous all-time mark of 22.89, which was set just weeks ago by fellow junior Mia Brahe-Pedersen of Lake Oswego (OR) in Spokane, Washington.
Prior to 2023, the long-time 200m best of 22.97 held by Bianca Knight seemed nearly impossible to beat.
Hodge smashed it by two-tenths of a second. And this time, there was no conversion to worry about, either. It was at sea level.
"I was more shocked than anything," Hodge said.
Hodge will enter Sunday's final as a favorite, but she may not be the favorite: That's because Shawnti Jackson, who ran 22.96 and is a national record-holder at 60m and 300m in her own right, is in the picture.
Plus, Hodge wasn't the only Montverde Academy (FL) athlete on Saturday to produce an all-time effort.
Issam Asinga tied Casey Combest's 6.57 60m national record in the morning's opening rounds, which is a record that has stood untouched since 1999.
Photo Credit: Cara Mooney/MileSplit
Related Links:
Gametime! Issam Asinga Ties 24-Year-Old 60m National Record
New Balance Nationals Indoor Saturday Live Recap