SAN FRANCISCO—Janet Criss, a 14-year-old track athlete from Castro Valley, California, is ranked as the top middle school 100-meter sprinter in California and the United States and is on her way to the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics in Southern California later this summer.
The East Bay student athlete broke meet records three times at the AAU West Coast National Championship on July 1–5 in Reno, Nevada. Janet broke 100-meter records twice and won the final in 11.74 seconds, and she broke a 200-meter record by winning the final in 23.97 seconds.
“The start is what sets you apart, but the finish is what makes you great,” Janet said on her website.
Her goals include “continued development in sprinting technique, national titles in both the 100m and 200m, and eventually competing at the collegiate and professional levels,” the website states.
Janet achieved her best time in the 100-meter with 11.64 seconds when she competed on May 30–31 in the West Coast Classic Track and Field Invitational at Cerritos College, Norwalk, California.
“After months of training, sacrifice, setbacks, pressure, and preparation, Janet Criss is stepping into the biggest meets of the year,” Janet’s mother, Stephanie Burton, wrote in a May 22 Instagram post, where she shared her daughter’s local meet record in the 100-meter with a time of 11.60 seconds.
Janet ranked third in the 200-meter race with 23.69 seconds on June 18–22 in the Nike Outdoor Nationals & USATF U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
“I’m very happy … and so proud of her. She’s come far but she has a lot of learning and growing to do in this sport,” Burton wrote in an email to The Epoch Times. “She has a natural talent … and her coach Craft has helped her utilize her gift.”
Janet started track and field and general athletic training at 10 years old and now trains under coach Jerry Craft with Audience of One, a Hayward-based track club.
She “combines speed, power, and discipline far beyond her age,” according to her website.
“It’s been amazing watching her grow into a track athlete,” said Burton.
She said Janet used to be a diver and swimmer, but then a friend mentioned track.
“Once she did the rest was history,” Burton said. “She told me that she knows in her heart that this is what she is supposed to do when she was 11, so here we are now. She’s running with the top athletes in the nation.”
Her family started a GoFundMe campaign to cover travel expenses for elite competitions, including lodging, transportation, meals, and entry fees. It has raised over $2,200 as of July 17 with a goal of $3,500.
