The BLITZ Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year award goes to senior Jada Pittman, capping a season in which she was a 3-time region champion and won a state title.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Region 8-AAAA Champion in 100 Meter Dash, Long Jump & Triple Jump
• 4A State Champion in Long Jump
• 4A State 5th Place in 100 Meter Dash
• PRs: Long Jump (19-3.25), Triple Jump (36-5), 100 Meter Dash (12.17) all set in 2022

Jada Pittman had nothing short of a career year for Jefferson. The senior jumper and sprinter had many big moments, but none bigger than the finals of the long jump, where she claimed a state title with an 18-11 distance, just about four inches off her PR set weeks earlier at the MLPG Titan Invitational (19-3.25). That MLPG meet is also where she set a PR in the triple jump with a 36-5. Her 100 meter dash PR was a 12.17 in the region championships. At the state meet, Pittman placed 5th in the 100 meter dash. She was the region champion in the 100, triple jump, and long jump.

This was a step up for the star athlete, who also was fantastic as a junior in 2021. That year, she was 8th at state in the 100 and won the region title in that event. She was also the 2021 state runner-up in the long jump and region champ, and state 7th in the triple jump as well as 3rd in the region. She shined as a sophomore in 2020 in the COVID-shortened year, and was 4th at state in the 100 as a freshman in 2019 after winning the region title then too. That season, she was the region runner-up and state qualifier in the 200 as well, and was the region champion and state 5th in the long jump.

Add that all up, and Jada Pittman has done the following:

100: State 5th (’22), 8th (’21), 4th (’19); Region Champion (’19, ’21, ’22)
Long Jump: State Champion (’22), 5th (’19), 8th (’21); Region Champion (’19, ’21, ’22)
Triple Jump: State 7th (’21), Qualifier (’22); Region Champion (’22), 3rd (’21)

That’s a total of SEVEN region titles, a state title, and SEVEN state top-10 finishes. Unbelievable. In 2022 alone, she had 15 top finishes in her events at all meets combined.

VOTING RESULTS

1. Jada Pittman – 68 pts (13 1st-place votes)
2. Katherine Law – 42 pts (2)
3. Macy Murdock – 31.75 pts
4. Mercades Housman – 15.5 pts (1)
5. Anna LeCave – 13.5 pts
6. Shelby Speed – 12.75 pts
7. Ermay Vazquez – 12.5 pts

Voting included our 17-person panel made up of sports reporters, writers, video producers, former coaches, players, GHSA officials, and sports experts. The voting is Heisman-style, with the following points system:
1st place votes: 5 pts; 2nd: 3 pts; 3rd: 2 pts; 4th: 1 pts; 5th-6th: 0.5 pts; 7th-8th 0.25 pts

Jada Pittman and teammate Katerine Law combined for 15 of the 1st-place votes, though Pittman had just three votes that weren’t the top one. Mercades Housman also took a 1st-place vote.

HISTORY OF ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

• 2022 – Jada Pittman – Jefferson SR
• 2021 – Paden Bell – Commerce SO
• 2020 – Zoe Sanchez – Union County SR
• 2019 – Zoe Sanchez – Union County JR
• 2018 – Rachel Gearing – White County SR & Anna Davis – Tallulah Falls SR
• 2017 – Rachel Gearing – White County JR
• 2016 – Kate Massey – Commerce SO
• 2015 – Jenna Gearing – White County JR
• 2014 – Sally Woerner – Rabun County SR
• 2013 – Jenna Gearing – White County FR
• 2012 – Jessie Dotson – White County SR
• 2011 – Madalyn Walters – Dawson County JR
• 2010 – Madalyn Walters – Dawson County SO

Pittman becomes the first Jefferson athlete to claim the award, and the first senior since 2020. She’s the first jumper/sprinter to win since Rachel Gearing in 2018.

WHO WILL WIN IT NEXT YEAR?