Tierra Robinson-Jones ’18 had a very successful 2017 track & field season. She placed second in the 400-meter run, finishing in 53.24 seconds – a personal record, at the California Interscholastic Federation State Track & Field Championships, and ran a critical leg on the women’s state champion 4 x 400 relay team.
Currently ranked #1 in the North Coast Section (she holds the #3 spot in NCS history) in the 400, Tierra was the third-ranked rising senior in the nation and ranked among the top 40 of women under the age of 20 in the world in the event in 2017. She recently signed a letter of intent to run track at Texas A & M University next year.
Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Jamal Cooks believes that Tierra has the potential to cement herself in California state track history this upcoming season by securing a top 20 state time. She is currently ranked #33 all time in California. She is also the #1 returner in the state and the #14 returner in the United States.
“I think her goal is to work as hard as she can to fix the things that she knows she needs to work on and build upon her strengths,” he said. “If she does that, she’ll run fast.”
Tierra said her goal is to PR in her signature event (an event she’s held the school record in since 9th grade) this season. “I don’t have a specific time goal, but I’m hoping on running around 52 seconds,” she said.
“Right now in my training, I am working to get my under speed faster for the quicker sprints like the 100-meter and the 200-meter dashes so that later on when I start training more for the 400-meter run I’ll be able to have that speed with me and won’t have to focus too much on it.”
Coach Cooks explains that the idea is that as Tierra gets faster in the shorter races, she will continue to work on her strength that will ultimately help her run a faster time in the 400.
Tierra is also a force in the 200-meters, with a PR of 24.18 seconds. Her goal is to hit 23 seconds in that event. “Even though I’m not that far away from a 23, that much time in track is HUGE.”