Ja'Warren Hooker
Encyclopedia
Ja'Warren Hooker is a track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 sprinter and former University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 football player.

Hooker is one of seven children and has not seen his biological father since he was little. Ja'Warren's step father is a chemist for the Washington State Agriculture Department. He played halfback for Ellensburg High School
Ellensburg High School
-Academics:Qualified 11th and 12th grade students may take classes at Central Washington University and earn both high school and college credit through the Running Start program.-Famous alumni:*Gary Lee Conner - Musician, Screaming Trees...

 ending his four year career with 57 touchdowns and 5100 yards. Hooker went from there to play football at the University of Washington. Ja'Warren also played basketball for his High School where he shot 40% from 3 point range. Hooker is an overall very talented athlete and played many sports but his love is Track and Field.

When Hooker decided to go to the University of Washington, he was escorted around by the girls soccer star Marisa Lyons. He developed a relationship with her, and on July 7, a night where he had just been discussing the future with her, she died in his arms of cardiac arrhythmia. When attending her funeral Ja'Warren held her teddy bear and said "I've never been defeated in a race, but Marisa beat me to heaven, I wish it had been a tie."

Career highlights

Hooker made the 2000 Olympic relay team as a back-up member, but he did not get to compete. Before this Hooker was the 1997 USA Junior Champion in the 100 meters.

High school career

In 1995 Hooker won the 100 meters race in 10.71 s as a Sophomore in high school to win his first appearance at the Pasco Invitational
Pasco Invitational
The Pasco Invitational is an annual track and field competition for high school athletes in the Pacific Northwest, held in mid April in Pasco, Washington....

. The Pasco Invitational features top high school athletes and teams from primarily Washington state with teams also competing from Oregon and other states. This track meet features more competition than the WIAA State Track and Field Championships. This is because, at State, the best from each classification compete only against others in their classification. In the Pasco Invitational, all athletes compete against each other regardless of their school's classification/size; the competition is also deeper due to the additional out-of-state athletes who come to the Invite.

The following year Hooker returned to the Pasco Invitational
Pasco Invitational
The Pasco Invitational is an annual track and field competition for high school athletes in the Pacific Northwest, held in mid April in Pasco, Washington....

to win the sprint double in the 100 m (10.68 s) and 200 m (21.82 s). His final chance to compete at the Pasco Invitational was not wasted as he performed another sprint double in record fashion. Hooker won the 100 meters in 10.44 s to set a meet record and the 200 meters in 21.40 s also for a meet record. Hooker competed in 5 events over those 3 years running at the Pasco Invitational and won all 5 times. Hooker has the Washington State Record for the 100 meters set at 10.27 s. Hooker also has 8 individual state titles at the WIAA State Track and Field Championships, the most by any athlete from Washington.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK