Josi Lackey overcame a mild case of senior-itis this year to finish her athletic career on a high note at the state Class 2A track championships where she finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles.
“After softball was over in the fall, I was feeling a little indifferent about sports but once I started practicing track and my times started getting better, I felt better,” said Lackey who also has a medal to show for placing fifth in the long jump her sophomore year.
“Josi is one of those athletes that every coach would love to have on their team. She stayed late a lot of times after practice and even lobbied for some weekend practices to work on her hurdles and long jump. She’s a talented athlete with a winner’s attitude,” said her track coach Jennifer Griffin. “We dropped to Class 2A this year which you might think would be a plus, but we found that the competition was a lot tougher in a lot of events including the long jump, but she didn’t let that phase her.”
Josi grew up on the softball diamond playing T-ball and grew to love the sport by middle school. Along the way, one of her coaches asked her to try track for the fun of it.
“I have really long legs and I tried several of the running events but found that I was really good at hurdles from the start.”
Josi qualified for state in both the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump in her sophomore and senior seasons with mixed results.
“My long jumps weren’t very good at state this year (she finished ninth) but I ran well in the hurdles. My sophomore year, it was just the opposite. I placed in the long jump but didn’t do well in the hurdles.”
Josi also enjoyed success as a member of the Lady Wildcats fast pitch team.
“We made it to state my freshman year which was the first time ever a Coalgate fast pitch team had made it and then we made it again my junior season and we got to the semifinals that year. The environment was nerve-racking but also exciting.”
Josi plans to attend either Southeastern State or UCO for college and study to be a traveling nurse or pediatric nurse.
