As most of you know I have been doing this job for a few years now.

I have seen track athletes come and go, but what Dowagiac junior Kaisha Martin is doing is simply amazing.

I have been watching Martin the past two seasons as all of you have and seen her improve each year.

But her dominance this season is remarkable.

Martin is truly built for running. She has a passion for running and she has become a great long jumper as well.

Dowagiac has a long history of great track performers, but she is rewriting the record book as we speak.

She now holds the school record in all three of the individual events she competes in.
She has broken the 100- and 200-meter records a couple of times already, running a sub-12 second 100-meters on Monday at the regional meet.

On Wednesday night at the Wolverine Conference meet she added the long jump record to her resume.

While I go back more years than I would like to recall, I don’t remember too many four-time regional or conference champions for Dowagiac.

That is in the same season anyway.

I enjoy watching Kaisha run. She is all business on the track, but once she gets done running her events she can be seen laughing and having a good time with her teammates.

Track runners, especially of her caliber, often turn into divas.

This isn’t the case with Kaisha.

She likes having fun, but there is no doubt about the fact that she likes winning even more.

I am expecting big things from her next week at the state finals.

She finished fourth in the 100-meters last year as a sophomore and I truly believe that she can bring home multiple medals from the state meet and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them say first place on them.

Her time in the 100-meters is tied for the top seed, while in the 200-meters and long jump she comes in with the fourth best time or distance from the regional qualifiers.

Dowagiac’s 400-meter relay team will be seeded seventh.

The truly amazing part of what Kaisha has already accomplished is the fact that she’s only a junior.

She can break all of her own records again next season.

I was glad to finally see some warm weather, although probably too warm for this time of year, show up for the regional and conference meets.

You could see by the times that the runners enjoyed it as well.

So with a week to go,I am sure the Dowagiac coaching staff will be getting her tuned up for what could be one of the most significant days in girls’ track history for the Chieftains.

I know that she will be ready to go and by the time Saturday rolls around, she will be geared up to give it all she’s got.

Scott Novak is sports editor for Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com