Senior Navarra James, leader of the sprinters on the Freedom track team, grew up in a home full of athletes, as her mother ran track when she was younger and her brothers played basketball.  She stated that the reason she runs track is that growing up, it was all about her brothers and basketball and she wanted to do something different and follow in her mother’s footsteps.

James explained that her mom is her role model.

“I run track to live my mom’s dream as she was not able to continue running track when she was younger.  Her dream was cut short because my grandmother was not into her moving away from home.”

James’ favorite event is the 200-meter dash when she is not tired, but she also likes the 100-meter dash and recently has come to like the 400-meter dashes as well.

Her favorite memory in her four years on the track team is when she got to run the 4×400 race at districts, she was only notified three days before the meet, which made all the more special.  James’ goal in track is pretty simple – to run a PR (personal record) every time she compete. She stated, “If I strive to run a PR every time, where I place will take care of itself.”

When asked about James’ plans after Freedom, she said, “I plan on running track while in college and plan on studying to be a physical therapist.” She would not disclose where she was going to college and stated at this time it was a secret.

While James is committed to track and it takes a lot of her time, she also feels that it is important to give back to the community.

James looks forward to finishing out her senior year and running track before she starts the next chapter in her life.