Hodge after winning the 200 at state last year.
This feature is called future stars and is meant to cover athletes who are sophomores or younger. But for Adaejah Hodge, a sophomore at Alexander, a more appropriate title would be current stars. She is already one of the best sprinters in the state and could very easily be top ten all time in at least one event by the end of this season. She just put up a 54.30 in the 400 over the weekend, only 0.57 seconds off the 10th fastest time ever in Georgia outdoors. Except she ran it Indoors. And again, she's just a sophomore. I would say she's the best athlete you've never heard of, but you've probably heard of her.
Her journey has been interesting. She started the sport, at least according to her profile, when she was in 6th grade. And she did several events. 100, 200, 400, LJ, TJ. She placed 4th and 3rd at the middle school state championships in some solid times, but the one that sticks out to me is her 56.79 for 2nd at USATF junior Olympics. That's just flat out incredible for a kid that young. 7th grade saw more of the same as she improved her times (and jumps distances) across the board. She was very consistent and finished it off with her first sub 12 performance to win AAU Junior Olympics.
Unfortunately Covid kept us from seeing what she had as an 8th grader, but that didn't stop her from dazzling us as a freshman last year. She won her first state title in the Long Jump with a mark of 19-7. Almost over 20 feet as a freshman? Seriously? She followed that up with a runner up in the 100 in a very solid time of 11.67 and a win in the 200 with another stellar time of 23.75. That's 28 points she scored by herself as a freshman. But that was just the opening act. She followed it up with wins in the 400 and the 200 at USATF Junior Olympics in the summer. These are things freshmen shouldn't be able to do so easily. She's also incredibly consistent. And her PR's of 11.67, 23.64, and 53.81 are only 0.06, 0.03, and 0.08 seconds off the all time top list, respectively. And that doesn't even take into account that her Long Jump PR is within 6 inches of top ten all time.
And so it seems she's up to her old ways and looks to be one of the best, if not THE best sprinters in the state this year. And we are lucky enough that we get to witness her for another 3 outdoor track seasons. I can't wait to see what she does this spring.
