JUNE 7, 2014 - COLUMBUS
Jackie Siefring had a weekend like no other athlete in Covington history at the D-III State Track & Field Championships at Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus - winning two state championships and a third place medal.

And she did it all after rehabbing an ACL injury suffered last June and battling a hip injury all spring.

"With my hip, I didn't think it would be fair to come into the meet with high expectations," Siefring said. "It took me four years, but I finally got to the top."

First, on Friday, Siefring launched herself into school history by becoming Covington's first female athlete to win a state title by winning the long jump in 18 feet 3/4 inches on her final jump.

Then, after qualifying for the finals in the 100 meter hurdles on Friday, Siefring returned to the track in the opening race of the day on Saturday and earned a third place medal with a time of 14.80, a race won by the defending state champion, Morgan Rice of Warren JFK in 14.49.

"That is a race where your form has to be perfect," Siefring said. "I haven't been able to practice it for five weeks, so that makes it tough. I was happy with my race."

Siefring then returned to the track once again a short time later to face Rice in the 300 meter hurdles.

This time Siefring willed her way to the top of the podium once again, winning the race in a time of 43.64 - with Rice finishing a close second at 43.88.

"Her form is so good," said Siefring of Rice. "She would go over the hurdles and be right with me, then I would pull ahead, then we would go over another hurdle and she would make it up again. My form could be a lot better than it is. I make up for it with speed. I could see her out of the corner of my eye (coming to the finish line)."

Siefring trailed by a split second heading toward the final hurdle, but her power from her intense training over the last year is what won her the race.

"I probably would have been happy (without winning the 300s)," Siefring said. "But, that is the race I always thought I would win. It took four years, but I did it."

And it made her final experience in a Covington uniform that much more rewarding.

"It has been a fun ride," she said. "That is what I wanted high school to be. Now I am ready for college and Akron."

To hopefully put her name in more record books.