Atlantic High’s Thalia Waters shines in Junior Olympics track competition
Atlantic High School senior Thalia Waters took a big first step this summer toward her recovery from a hamstring injury that sidelined her for most of her junior track season.
Waters recently competed in the 2023 AAU Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa where she excelled in both of her events: the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump for the 17-18 girls.
“My Junior Olympics meet was amazing,” said Waters, who jumped 5.62 meters (18 feet, 5 inches) in the long jump. “It wasn’t a PR, but it was season’s best coming from an injury. I ended up placing seventh overall and getting All American.”
For the 100-meter hurdles, Waters ran in the preliminary rounds and then in the finals.
“In the preliminary round,” she said, “I won my best with a time of 14.09, which had me third overall in all 11 heats. This was a big new PR for me, which I was happy for since I worked so hard to run that low of a time.
“I was hyped and excited for the finals. I ended up setting a new PR again with a time of 14.07, which helped me finish runner up. I ended up getting All American in both of my events.”
The 17-year-old, who lives in Lake Worth, is equally impressive in the classroom where she boasts a 3.3 GPA and a weighted GPA of 3.8. She said the Junior Olympic was a “great weekend” for her.
“I was amazed and proud of all the hard work that I did,” Waters said. “All that hard work was for this meet and for me to drop time. I ended up getting a Junior Olympics bag, and there are 3,000 bags and I got the lucky number of getting the No. 1 of 3,000. I just wanted to give thanks to God because I couldn’t do it without him.”
Waters injured her left hamstring in January and sat out the majority of junior season.
“I probably did like one or two meets, and then after that, my hamstring just got worse,” said Waters, who was a Sun Sentinel first team section in track after her sophomore year. “At first, I didn’t suspect anything of it, but all I knew was that I had to run.
“I had an indoor meet coming up called New Balance Indoor Nationals in mid-March,” said Waters, who ran the 60-meter hurdles championship and long jump rising stars.”
She missed the championships for the long jump by a couple inches, but it was a meet she knew she had to run.
“I knew something wasn’t right with my hamstring,” Waters said. “Being the athlete that I am, I still ran because this is my passion. I ended up tweaking my hamstring even more causing me to be unable to compete and even walk.”
She sat out for another two months and didn’t fully recover until late-June or the beginning of July. Once she was fully recovered, she began therapy, worked hard in practice and pushed herself to the max.
“I knew that I had to run at Junior Olympics because I had something to prove,” Waters said. “Not for everyone else, but for myself. I couldn’t let myself down. I would practice hard and made sure I took care of my body.
“When Junior Olympics came up, I knew I was ready,” she said. “I felt a change in my body. It felt stronger and faster. I was nervous but I knew that God had a plan for me. I prayed and prayed to make finals and to PR, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Waters said she hasn’t committed to a college yet. Her sister Tamia and best friend Lakesha Smith run for Middle Tennessee State University.
“I wanted to wait a little bit later into the school year because I feel like I could drop more time and jump further,” she said. “I feel great. I feel like great things are headed my way. I know that there’s still a lot to work on, but I know that I can manage and try to drop my times lower. I have a lot of confidence.”