Two months after finishing her freshman year of high school, Keniah Jenkins was on a plane heading to California. Jenkins, now a sophomore at Lovejoy High School, competed at the 2026 USA Track & Field (USATF) National Junior Olympics Championships hosted at Falcon Stadium on Cerritos College’s campus in Norwalk, California She was part of the girls 15-16 age division 4-by-100- and 4×400-meter relay teams with her Alicea Track Club teammates. The two teams finished 16th and 13th, respectively. To qualify, Jenkins and her teammates competed in the USATF Georgia Association Junior Olympics State Qualifier on June 14 at Carrollton High School. After that, the top 16 teams advanced to the USATF Region 4 Junior Olympics on July 12 in Carrollton. The top five teams punched their tickets to California. For Jenkins, the cross-country trip was a memorable one. “It was a really good experience. I really enjoyed it,” Jenkins said. “It was my first time going to California, and it was just meeting new people, new genres of people. It was really just fun for me because it was my first time really riding a plane and stuff.” The competition spanned from July 27 to Aug. 2. During the competition, Jenkins said she made a lot of memories. Above all, Jenkins believes she and her teammates developed a stronger bond. “At first, we weren't that close,” Jenkins said, “but we started to communicate more and just talk more and got more comfortable with each other.” Another main takeaway from the…
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