Aug. 20, 2012

USC incoming freshman Jaide Stepter from Canyon Del Oro High was named the Gatorade Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year for Arizona this summer after winning three individual titles at the 2012 Arizona state track and field meet.

Stepter broke the 27-year-old state 300m hurdles record at the Chandler Rotary Invitational with a time of 42.18. She also won the prestigious Arcadia Invitational 300m hurdles race with a time of 42.22 and then set a PR and state-record at the Arizona state championships with a time of 42.01.

Stepter also won the Arizona state title in the 100m HH with a time of 14.43 and the long jump with a leap of 19-3, after only training for the event for a month. She helped lead her team to a second-place finish at the Arizona state meet.

"I felt like everything fell into place this year," said Stepter to the Arizona Central. "Of course, there are things I need to improve on. My race pattern, I still want to fix and do better. I would say I got stronger. I've been working o the same step pattern to perfect it."

Stepter's mother and coach is LaTanya Sheffield was a collegiate champion and Olympian in the 400m IH.

"I think she is finding the rhythm of the race and putting her own flag to it," said Sheffield. "If you know a song, and when you sing it and own it, it feels totally like your own. She's signing it,"

Stepter also maintained a 4.0 GPA and ranked in the top five in her graduating class at Canyon Del Oro. She also donates her time as a youth athletic instructor at multiple community track events in association with the mission to fight childhood obesity.