University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Kaila Jackson
February 21, 2023 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Sometimes, as she's getting settled into the starting blocks, Georgia sprinter Kaila Jackson thinks about her strategy for the race she's about to run. Other times, she's hardly thinking about anything at all. Whatever it takes to cross that finish line first.
A freshman from Redford, Mich., the 5-foot-2 Jackson, with only a few collegiate meets under her belt, has already set a school record. Competing at the Texas Tech Open & Multis last month, Jackson ran the 60-meter dash in 7.16, narrowly edging the Kate Hall's time of 7.17 en route to winning the 2018 NCAA Indoor Championships title. Jackson has already twice been named SEC Freshman of the Week by the league office.
During a recent Quick Chat, Jackson talked about her pre-race routine, her start in the sport, the challenges of being a diabetic athlete, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: When you get in the blocks, what are you thinking about? Or are you trying not to think about anything?
Jackson: What I usually think about is how I'm going to execute the race. Sometimes I try to not think about anything, but sometimes that just messes me up for the whole race. When I do think about things, that's what it is.
Frierson: In the minutes before a race, are you trying to pump yourself up or calm yourself down?
Jackson: Probably psych myself up, because the more excited I am, the more ready I am. Being pumped up, it just makes me feel good.
Frierson: Was track always your main thing or did you play a bunch of different sports when you were young?
Jackson: I did gymnastics and volleyball, but around my junior year in high school, they (my parents) were like: You've got to pick one. So I chose track. ...
It was around third grade that I got into volleyball, because my sister did volleyball, and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. I stopped that my 10th-grade year.
Frierson: One of my favorite things about track and field is that it's one big team with people competing in so many different events. When you look around at the other events, is there one where you're like: I wish I could do that, or I have no idea how or why anyone does that.
Jackson: I'd probably say: Thank God I don't have to do pole vault. It seems so scary. I couldn't imagine going all the way up and then coming all the way down, and sometimes people get hurt. It's really scary to me.
Frierson: Did your coaches every ask you to do the heptathlon or any of the jumps?
Jackson: I started off running the 100 and the 200, and those are really what I stuck to. Sometimes I do a 400 here and there, but I never tried anything else besides that. I did do long jump, and I was good at it. I did it maybe when I was 13, maybe 11 to 13, and I was doing like 16 or 17 feet.
Frierson: Given how much you train and how hard you're working, do you kind of have the luxury of being able to eat what you want? Or are you really paying attention to everything?
Jackson: Our dietician, she tells us we can have our cheat days and whatnot, but I try to stick to the more healthy options. And then here and there I'll have a sugar cookie or some other snacks. It is important to keep up my carbs, especially running like I do.
Frierson: Was that something you thought much about before you got to college?
Jackson: I really have to focus a lot because I am diabetic. I was diagnosed at the end of my eighth-grade year, so since then I've had to watch what I eat and count carbs, take medicine and stuff like that.
Frierson: How much does that affect you day-to-day, as far as maintaining everything?
Jackson: It can be a challenge. At first, it was really hard for me, but I'm starting to get used to it. But it's never like a normal day with diabetes, so I'm always having to pay attention to my levels and food and everything else.
Frierson: Are you wearing a diabetes device even while you're racing?
Jackson: I have two devices that I wear. They're not really big or anything, and one tells my blood sugar and is connected through bluetooth, so it shows up on my phone. The other one is for my medicine.
Frierson: Wow. That's a lot. And it's all probably so much easier and smaller now than it was 10 or 20 years ago.
Jackson: Yeah, it's so much easier now. When I first got diagnosed, I had to do the (carb count) math and sometimes I'd get it wrong and low blood sugar. Now, I really don't have to worry much because they have machines that watch it all the time.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Jackson: Hopefully, I'll still be running and I'm also interested in sports broadcasting, so I want to get into that and maybe commentate during the Olympics or something like that.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
