Division: 13-Year-Old Female
Athlete: Cha'iel Johnson
Skinny: Johnson is headed into the eighth grade next year, but she's already got varsity times. The daughter of former NFL grade Chad 'Ocho Cinco' Johnson has been lighting up the track for Miami Gardens Xpress for some time. A year ago, she tussled with another national-caliber 12-year-old athlete, Krianne McBride, in the final stretches of the 1500m and won in the last moments. This year, Johnson continues to excel, having qualified for the 200m, 400m and the 800m at her AAU Region 10 Qualifier. While that means we won't see her in the 1500m, her coach, Darius Lawshea, will likely continue to train her with the possibility of adding it down the line. So far, she's run it three times in 2018, with a best of 4:46.32 from May at the Florida Middle School Championships. Johnson has run a best of 25.92, 56.15 and 2:15.01 in the 200/400/800 in 2018.